Summary: What if everything had been a bad dream? The Heartless were never created and the Nobodies never existed. What if one apprentice woke up from that dream, only to relive every moment of it again? He would try to stop it of course.
Warning: This story is an Alternate Universe from the original Kingdom Hearts world(s). There may be slight Out of Character-ness and some parts of the original Kingdom Hearts plot-line may be changed. If you do not like fanfictions like this, please click the back button. Also SPOILER WARNING FOR BIRTH BY SLEEP!!
Dislcaimer: I, KradsLover, do not own Kingdom Hearts.

All the apprentices stared at the creature, the Heartless. All had their own reactions.

Even looked at it in fascination. He truly was a scientist, always curious about everything. Dilan watched it warily, unsure if that tiny cage could keep it contained or not. Aeleus really didn't have an identifiable reaction, but one could be certain that he didn't like the thing. Braig was looking at it, a large smirk on his face. It was like he knew a secret, a big one.

Ienzo quickly moved as far away from the cage as possible. That thing is what started it all.

"Get rid of-" his voice was cut off by Ansem's.

"It doesn't have a heart? But how is it still alive?" asked the older man as he looked at it, circling the cage like an old falcon.

"That's what we're going to find out," Xehanort said calmly, watching Ansem with eyes rival to his. "After all, as scientists it is our duty... Right, Master Ansem?"

Ansem nodded, running Xehanort's words over in his mind. The tone of the young apprentice's voice uneased him. A million questions were running through his mind. Where did Xehanort find this creature exactly? Did it emerge from the shadows underneath the castle? It didn't look dangerous but those claws made him wonder how the apprentice got away with putting it in a cage without getting scratched up.

To many questions and no answers.

The older man looked at all of his apprentices, taking in their expressions on whether or not they should do this experiment. They had just recently built a large lab underground, they could do it there. It would be safer. But it was all up to them.

"What say you?" he asked, orange eyes having a trustworthy sheen to them.

The remaining apprentices, aside from Xehanort, hesitantly nodded their heads. They would do it if Ansem was willing to do it. And for Xehanort of course. If they could unlock the secrets of the heart they hoped they'd be able to finally unlock his memories.

Ansem then looked down at Ienzo. His opinion mattered the most to him. "What do you think, Ienzo?"

Ienzo was still staring at the Heartless, hatred and fear burning in his normally dull eyes.

"Doing this experiment is a foolish idea," he finally spoke after a few seconds of silence.

Even, Dilan and Aeleus slowly looked over at Ienzo, eyebrows raised. What on earth was he talking about?

Braig and Xehanort however looked furious. This little brat was stopping them from their goals!

"He's just afraid of the creature." Braig said suddenly, stepping close to Ansem. "Master Ansem, why listen to a child when it comes to something as scary as the heartless? You know how afraid he was of the Unversed, it's no different here." his one remaining eye looked up at the blond man. "We'll do the experiment ourselves. Ienzo can stay with you or maybe even get out of the castle and make some friends his own age." he wasn't about to let all his planning go to waste. "After all he's just a child."

Ienzo glared at Braig. "Don't treat me like those idiotic brats out there." He knew what he was up to. Braig wanted to make Ienzo seem weak, afraid, inferior. He was afraid, and he was weak, at least physically. But he was just as good as the others. "Fine." he said. "Do the experiment. You won't get what you want though." he hissed to the scarred man before quickly leaving. No one could stop him.

Xehanort's eyes narrowed. "I'll go get him." he said to Ansem before walking out, the heavy doors shutting behind him.

"How much does he know?"

Author's Notes: Well I finally got around to this chapter. It reallyl didn't come out like how I wanted but I'm getting sick of looking at it.

I realize now as I type this story that I have a problem with the time line in my story and the time line in Kingdom Hearts. I hope for those of you who know of it don't get too upset about the slight tweaks I'm giving the story.

Please review and I'll try to update as soon as I can.