Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you Eddie Camp and explosivebagel for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Thirty - Seven: Initiation

"How to we bring back the X-blade?"

"I told you, I don't know!"

Allia felt pain lance through her body. She bit back the scream of pain, tensing her body against the jolt. When it passed, she fell back, panting, against her restraints. "Did that change your mind any?"

Allia looked over at her tormentor, a Dark Army Keyblader. "Go to hell," she spat.

She instantly regretted it as the Keyblader lifted his Keyblade and released a bolt of lightning from it. She resisted screaming once again, curses boiling in her mind. When the pain passed, she lay panting, thinking furiously, If I were free… She finished with a number of tortures, then decided none were bad enough.

The Keyblader was looking down at her. "Had enough?"

Allia glared at him in fury and pain. "Shut up."

He shook his head with a sigh. "That will get you nowhere, you know."

"I don't know anything about your 'X-blade'," she informed the man icily, attempting to remain calm.

"Do you think we'll let you go if you play dumb?" the man hissed, leaning closer. "Because we won't, you know. We'll keep you here until we either find the X-blade…or you die."

"Lucky me," Allia muttered under her breath.

The Keyblader didn't appear to hear. "Don't you think it'd be simpler to just tell us what you know?"

"It might be simpler," Allia growled, "but I don't know anything, at least not about the X-blade."

"Not about the X-blade…" The man trailed off, and the assassin could see the gears turning in his mind. "Do you know anything about the Light Army?"

She hesitated on this. Yes, she knew something about them, but she wasn't sure whether the information would help her or harm her. Eventually, she decided to risk it and said, "Yeah, I know something. They hired me to kill someone named Gillick Nogard."

The man looked surprised, and the assassin wondered if that was a good thing. "Really? Why are they bothering with him? He's only a minor nuisance."

"He attempted to attack their fortress, supposedly," Allia responded.

The Keyblader snorted. "The epitome of a smart person who does dumb things," he muttered.

Allia frowned at him. "How do you know about my target, anyways? What's his story?"

"I don't believe that concerns you," the Keyblader responded. After several moments of silence, he continued, "Thank you for that information. Now, let's get back to the X-blade."

Allia's hopes plummeted. "Have you been listening? I. Don't. Know. Anything."

"We'll see about that."

Allia's body was filled with electricity for the fifth time that day. This time, she did scream.

Gillick led Mala and Riun over to Silver's tent. He pushed open the flap and entered without introduction. Silver looked up in surprise at his entrance. "Gillick? Do you need something?"

"Not for me," he responded, moving aside and letting his two companions enter.

Mala and Riun were both hesitant about coming in, looking around the tent nervously. Silver frowned. "I thought these two weren't interested in joining?"

"They changed their minds," Gillick informed her. He glanced at them. "Well? Tell her."

Mala looked nervous, stepping forward hesitantly. "W-well, we tried joining the armies…" She trailed off, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but there.

Riun picked it up for her. "The Dark Army wasn't nice! I decided I wanted to come back and be with Gillick." The young boy glanced up at the girl beside him. "You did, too, right Mala?"

Mala looked down at Riun and nodded quickly. "Y-yeah."

Silver frowned, crossing her arms. "I don't know. You already abandoned us once. Why should I believe you won't again?" She glanced at Gillick, but he said nothing.

"We could prove our loyalty," Mala answered hesitantly.

Riun nodded eagerly. "Yeah! We can help!"

"Really?" Silver still sounded skeptical. "And what if I asked you to fight against Keybladers? Would you be comfortable with that?" The looks on their faces answered her question. "See?" She sighed, shaking her head. "You may now know more of the Keybladers' true natures, but you've considered them as the 'good guys' for numerous years. Something like that is not so easily destroyed."

Gillick knew she had a point there. Even after he'd seen what Keybladers were really like, he'd tried to convince himself of their goodness for a while before his opinions finally changed.

Mala swallowed hard before answering. "It's not going to be easy, but…I still think I want to help."

Riun nodded his agreement. "I know Xuren's bad, and Gillick's good, so I want to help Gillick." Aforementioned boy gave him an amber - eyed glare, but didn't respond aloud.

Silver sighed. "If you're so determined, then I plan on testing you first."

Mala and Riun both nodded their assent. "What is it?" Mala asked slowly.

"Then here's the test." Silver paused, looking as if she were collecting her thoughts before continuing. "In a few days, I'll be taking a group of Silver Fang warriors on a raiding party to one of the Dark Army's strong holds. I want you two to accompany it."

Gillick couldn't help laughing. Silver glared at him. "Mind telling me what's so funny?"

He smirked. "I tried that with the Light Army. It didn't end well."

"No," Mala sighed, "it didn't."

"You didn't have experience or a group of allies standing behind you, though, did you?" Silver retorted.

Gillick snorted. "Whatever. You're digging your own grave."

Silver suddenly smiled sweetly. "And yours. You'll be coming with us."

Gillick looked at her in astonishment. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I'll pass on getting locked up in a dungeon again, thanks," Gillick snapped back at her.

Silver narrowed green eyes at him. "You'll do as you're told, if you expect to be part of the Silver Fang." Gillick seethed, but held his tongue…this time. If she thinks she can control me, she has another thing coming. He was already plotting on how he'd get back at her.

Silver turned her attention back to Mala and Riun. "Spend the next few days getting ready," she commanded. "And, Riun, you can use magic, correct?"

Riun nodded hesitantly. "Yeah."

"Then I'll find you a proper teacher."

Riun frowned. "But…I want Gillick to keep teaching me…"

Gillick's eye twitched. "No, Riun!"

Silver sighed. "You're all dismissed. If all goes well on this mission, I'll let you two join us."

Gillick paced aimlessly around his tent. Currently, he lacked something to do. He'd considered going out to practice his swordplay, but decided against it on the more-than-likely chance that Kero would be nearby. Other than that, he didn't have much to do besides think.

He sighed, falling to the ground. It wasn't the same as his travels; at least then, he'd always had new sights to keep him occupied. Now there was nothing to do but wait and think.

Maybe I should check up on Riun, he thought. It had been two days since Silver's announcement of the test, and since then the young mage had been working seemingly endlessly with his magical teacher. Then he snorted. Why should I care about him? He was just some annoying brat who followed me.

"Gillick? Can I come in?"

The black haired boy's head shot up at the voice. Mala. "Fine," he conceded.

She walked through the entrance, blue eyes glittering with worry. When she just stood there in awkward silence, Gillick scowled at her. "Well? What do you want?"

She flinched at his tone and answered hurriedly, "I-I'm nervous."

"Obviously," Gillick growled.

Mala shook her head. "It's just…I remember what happened when you tried something like this, and it didn't end well. I'm not sure this will have a different result."

"Yeah, well, neither am I," Gillick responded. "But that's the way life goes, isn't it?"

"You're helpful," Mala muttered.

"If you were looking for comfort, you came to the wrong person," Gillick snapped.

Mala looked away, eyes flickering with frustration. "Why can't you be more like Trevor?"

"Oh? You really want me to be like him?"

Mala flinched at Gillick's acidic words. "Right…he's not…the same…"

Gillick snorted. "He's the same. You've just finally seen what was right in front of your face."

Mala turned to look at him, distress flickering in her eyes. "But…"

Gillick sighed, frustrated and annoyed by the sympathy he was beginning to feel. "Look, I know you expected him to be some amazing hero; the one that always beats the bad guys, always does the right thing, ect. But you forget that he's still human." He gave her a piercing look with burning amber eyes. "No one is perfect, and if you expect someone to be 'without faults', then you might want to leave."

Mala sighed. "I know, but…just because someone isn't perfect doesn't mean they can't be good."

Gillick sighed, leaning back. "You don't really want to fight them, do you?"

"Yes! No…I don't know!" Mala shook her head furiously. "I've always believed that Keybladers were supposed to be the good guys, but then things like this happen, and now…" She trailed off, seemingly unsure about how to continue.

Gillick shrugged. "Life sucks. Deal with it."

Instead of the glare he was expecting, the thief girl simply looked defeated. As she turned to leave, Gillick finally relented with a sigh. "Wait, Mala."

She stopped and looked back at him. "What?"

He'd kind of been hoping she'd keep going; now he had to figure out something to say. What the hell did I do that for? He paused for a moment before finally going with what his heart was telling him. "I didn't always hate the Keybladers, you know. There was a time…when I thought they were the 'good guys', too."

Mala snorted. "Well that's a surprise," she muttered dryly.

His eye twitched, but he continued on, regardless. "When I began to see what the Keybladers were really like, I felt the same way you did at first; confused, scared, hurt. But I got over it, in time."

Mala shook her head. "No, you didn't." She turned to look at him squarely. "You say you're over it, but you're not. You're still hurt. Why else would you hate Keybladers so much?"

Gillick opened his mouth to respond, but had no answer. Apparently, though, it was all Mala needed. "Good night, Gillick. And…thanks for trying." And with those words, she left.

Gillick sat in silence for several moments. Then he muttered, "I need someone to remind me to never do that again."

That's the end of chapter thirty - seven. Reviews would be appreciated!