Typical Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own the X-Blade necessary to access it.

(I also don't own the franchise, but that's a given.)

A/N: And here we are! I hope you guys will enjoy the new chapter. Sorry for not uploading often, life's been busy. I've also been porting this story over to Ao3, if you'd rather read it there. I'll still be uploading the story over here, though, so don't worry!

Please remember that constructive criticism is always appreciated.

May your Heart be your guiding key, and I'll see you next time!

Day 41: Training - Day Four

I took a look around as I approached Saïx. Once again, Xion was not in the Gray Area, so I assumed I was to wait for her again. I turned to Saïx to ask for my mission, only to hear someone clear their throat.

"Good to see you, Champ. Lemme guess, you're looking for Poppet, aren't ya?" I turned around to face Xigbar.

"Yes I am, have you seen her?" I asked. "Also, don't call me 'Champ'. You already know my name."

"Poppet left ten minutes ago. She had a mission. You didn't think she'd be around all the time, wouldn't she? No, your mission is with me today." I glanced at Saïx, a frown on my face.

"Is this true?" I asked. Saïx nodded.

"Yes." He said. "Xion is needed elsewhere. From now until your training is complete, you will be learning under Xigbar."

"Alright! Now that that's cleared up, let's get going!" Xigbar said as he opened a Dark Corridor and shoved me through.

(Stop Playing Sacred Moon: Days Ver.)

(Play Lazy Afternoons)

When we appeared in the sunset bathed town, (which I've been told is called "Twilight Town"), I frowned.

"I can walk." I stated. "You didn't have to shove me."

"Maybe," Xigbar began, "but unlike you, I've got things to do today. Not everybody sits in their room all day, you know."

I wanted to point out that I had not done that in a couple of days when Xigbar continued. "You'll be learning about Limit Breaks today. Limit Breaks are powerful attacks; the most powerful move in a Nobody's arsenal."

I raised an eyebrow as he explained. 'My most powerful move? That would be useful on missions.'

"However," He continued in a dry tone, as if he was reading off a script, "Limit Breaks can only be used when you're close to death. They're a sort of a last resort that you use to defend your 'existence'. You can't be healthy and spam them."

"Oh. Okay." I muttered. "That makes sense, I suppose. A strong enough adrenaline rush would probably-" A stab of pain lanced through my leg, and I buckled and fell to the ground. I looked down and saw a hole in my clothes. A blood covered bolt lay embedded in the ground in front of me, and I glanced behind me to see that Xigbar had shot me through the leg.

"Xigbar... Why did you...?"

"You're in critical condition now." Xigbar said, a smirk resting on his face as he desummoned his arrowgun. "Go on, show me your Limit Break, I've got an Elixir for you when you're done!"

I sighed before getting back up and putting my weight on the leg that wasn't hurt. I then summoned my Keyblade. I took a deep breath and focused on the pain. Suddenly, a surge of awareness hit me as I threw my Keyblade. It ricocheted off of the ground, and started to bounce around the area. Soon, it returned to my hand. When it did, light burst from any point of impact it had made. A word was then whispered in my mind.

Faithraid.

"Well, that's pretty interesting. Here ya go, Alxcus." Xigbar said, throwing me an Elixir. I fumbled with it for a second before finally clutching it to my chest. "You've earned it. I'm getting out of here." Xigbar turned and opened a Dark Corridor. "Oh. One more thing. You can give those clothes to Saïx. He's surprisingly good at sewing things up." Xigbar then left.

I quickly used the Elixir and looked at my leg. There was no longer a hole in it, and it could hold my weight. I then turned to open a Dark corridor myself. However, as I was about to do so, I heard a voice.

"I FOUND YOU, THIEF!" On instinct, I flipped over my hood in order to hide my face. I then turned around to find three people running up to me. Two were boys, and the other was a girl.

One boy turned to the one who shouted. "I told you, Seifer! The thief always returns to the scene of the crime, ya know?"

"I know, Rai." This "Seifer" said, seemingly exasperated. He then turned to me.

"Now then, if you return the Struggle Sword, then my associates and I might lessen the intensity of your beatdown." I paused for a second before responding.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "I've never heard of a "Struggle Sword"." I turned around and started to walk off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got-"

"Liar." I turned around again to see the girl pointing at me.

"Yeah!" Rai yelled. "We can see through your lies, ya know?" I crossed my arms and sighed.

"There's... nothing to see through. I'm not lying." I said after a moment of processing what Rai said.

"Shut up!" Seifer ran towards me, his "weapon" brandished. When he swung it, I caught it in my hand and yanked it out of his grasp.

"Is this a Struggle Sword?" I asked, swinging the foam club a couple times. It was well made, at the very least.

"Yeah, now give it back!" Seifer said, trying to grab it. I simply threw it onto the ground.

"Take it. Why would I steal such a useless toy anyway?" I paused before turning around... again. "If it means that much to you, I wish you the best of luck on finding your culprit." I then walked away. When I was out of their sight, I RTC'd.

(Stop playing Lazy Afternoons)

(Play Sacred Moon: Days Ver.)

Once I got back to the Castle, I immediately went into my room to change into another pair of clothes. After doing so, I hoisted my damaged uniform over my shoulder. As I opened my door, however, a Dusk appeared in front of me. They bowed before they spoke.

"Hello, my Liege. Is there any way that I may help you?"

There was a pause as I frowned. "I suppose you two could give this to Saïx for me?" I then handed the quiet Dusk the damaged uniform. "Tell him that Xigbar shot me during the training exercise today."

"Yes, my Liege."

The Dusks then disappeared, and I turned back to my room.

'Awfully convenient that the Dusk appeared…' I thought as I sat down on my bed. 'I wonder what goes on in the heads of Lesser Nobodies. Maybe the Library would have something on them…? Maybe I should go and check sometime...'

Day 42: Training - Final Day

(Play Sacred Moon: Days Ver.)

I walked into the Gray Area and looked around. Xion was resting in a chair, so I walked up to her.

"Hey, Xion." I said. "How was your day yesterday?" I asked

"Oh, hey Alxcus!" Xion responded. "My day was good, thanks for asking!" She said. "I went to a world called Agrabah. It's a desert world, and it's really hot there!" She started to mutter. "I kinda wonder why the Organization makes us wear our cloaks there…"

"I wouldn't know." I said. "I haven't been there."

"Hey there, Champ!" Xigbar said, as he appeared out of nowhere and clamped a hand on my shoulder. "Today's the last day of your training! Let's get going."

I nodded and glanced back to Xion. "See you later." I said.

"Yeah!" Xion responded. "See you later, Alxcus!"

Xigbar then cleared his throat as he opened a Corridor. "I don't have all day." He muttered. We then went through the Corridor into Twilight Town.

(Stop playing Sacred Moon: Days Ver.)

(Play Lazy Afternoons)

I stepped out into Twilight Town and glanced back to Xigbar. He didn't seem like he wanted to be here… or at least, it seemed that way.

"Alright, so today we're gonna run a mock recon mission." Xigbar said, twirling one of his arrowguns on his finger. "Sometimes, we'll send you out to gather data on other worlds that we don't really know much about. This'll be a little test to see how good you could be at this." He gestured around. "Take a close look! What do you see?" A few minutes passed before I found something.

"Hey Xigbar, take a look at this." I said, calling him over. "There are scratches on this walkway." I gestured to a few scratches on a place of a differently paved part of the pavement. "Perhaps something heavy was recently dragged along this path?" Xigbar shrugged.

"I'm not telling." Xigbar said, a smirk on his face. "You'll have to figure that out on your own."

I nodded. "Alright." I then followed the path and found a shuttered gate. Behind it was a lot with tram cars inside.

"I think I get it now…" I mumbled.

"Really?" I turned to see Xigbar standing behind me. When had he… "What do you think?" He asked.

"Well, the differently paved path leads to here, and there are tram cars here." I gestured to the tram cars. "I think that path marks where the tram goes. Am I right? The scratches are caused by the trams."

"Correct!" Xigbar said. "You got anything else up in your noggin?" I took a glance around, and saw a giant clock tower in the distance. I could see the base of the tower, which was strange…

"That tower in the distance… I can see all of it, even the base."

"Why is that?" Xigbar asked, a knowing smirk on his face. I took a walk around, looking for more clues, and eventually started to notice that it took a little more effort to walk in certain directions than it did with others.

"Hang on…" I muttered. "Xigbar, is this town built on a hill?" I asked, turning around to see that he had appeared behind me again.

"Yep. That's why you can see the tower from almost anywhere in town." He gestured towards where we entered the town from. "Let's see if you can find anything else around here, alright?" I glanced around at several shops that were strewn around.

"That's quite a few shops." I stated. "I assume that this is some sort of…" I paused to think of the right word. "Trading hub? Shopping center?" Xigbar shrugged.

"I guess. These aren't the only shops around, too."

"It seems that these people are pretty well off, to be able to afford to run a shop." I decided. "Either that, or these shops are really popular."

"One of the two." Xigbar agreed, before chuckling. "Alright. I've seen enough. I'll RTC." He stepped toward the Dark Corridor. "If you wanna make more observations, go ahead. I'm not gonna stop you." he then stepped through the portal and disappeared. I was about to join him when I heard voices coming my way. I quickly ducked behind a store. I glanced out of my hiding place, and saw three teenagers. There were two boys and one girl. They appeared to be looking for something.

"I got it! He could be at the old mansion!" The girl said.

"Nah." The leaner boy said. "Pence and I looked there yesterday. There was nobody there."

The girl turned to the leaner boy. "But did you look inside the mansion?"

"N-no. Sorry, Olette." Pence, the stockier boy, admitted. "There's this huge lock, and we can't climb over the gate…" the girl, Olette, sighed.

"How do we get past that lock…" She murmured. "Any ideas, Hayner?"

The leaner boy, Hayner, shook his head. "Nope."

Pence frowned. "Well then, we need to find a way past that lock. Every lock has its key, after all."

"Right. Maybe someone will know something about it." Olette said. "Let's go ask around!" The boys nodded in agreement, and the three ran off.

"The Old Mansion?" I muttered to myself when I was sure they were gone. "Interesting. I might just check it out…"

I then started looking around for a building that could be classified as old or as a mansion. I had little luck until I found a crack in the wall. I walked through the hole the crack needed, and ended up in a forest. I continued my way through it, and found what I was looking for.

The Old Mansion sat in a clearing, the orange light of the sunset showing a certain dilapidation. It still seemed structurally stable, but it was clear that the house's glory days were long gone. It had a fence, and the fence was sealed shut with a big metal lock.

"Those three were looking for someone…" I muttered to myself. "They said that there was a chance that he could be in here…" I paused for a second before frowning. "Why am I even here? Their friend has nothing to do with me." I went to turn around and leave, but I glanced back at the building.

"Maybe tomorrow." I eventually decided. "If I have the time." I then walked back to the Dark Corridor, only to see Xion emerge from it.

"Hello." I said. "Are you on a mission?" I asked.

"No, I just finished mine." She responded. "But this is perfect timing. Come on, I want to show you something." She then led me to a stand of some kind.

"Xion, what is this place?" I asked.

"It's an ice cream stand!" She responded, a smile on her face. "They sell that Sea Salt ice cream that I got you a few days ago." Xion fished around in a coat pocket for a minute before pulling out a few orbs of Munny.

"Two Sea Salt ice creams, please!" She said to the person running the stand, who was looking at me with a confused look on her face.

"Of course." The ice cream lady said, fishing out two bars of ice cream. "That'll be twenty Munny…" She trailed off as the transaction occurred. She was still looking at me.

"Are… you alright?" I asked. "You're staring at me." The ice cream lady flinched and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." The woman said, a frown on her face. "It's just… have we met?"

"No." I said bluntly. I've never seen this woman in my life.

"I'm sorry." The woman muttered. "It's just that… your face looks familiar." She shook her head. "I guess it doesn't matter, but that'll bug me all day!"

I frowned. If it truly didn't matter to her, then why dwell on it? Nevertheless, I accepted the ice cream from her and Xion and I went on our way.

"Thank you for the ice cream." I said, before going to take a bite. Before I could, however, Xion stopped me.

"Wait, before you do, follow me. I've got to show you somewhere first." I frowned but let Xion lead me to the clock tower.

"The clock tower?" I asked. "You can see this from just about everywhere in town. Why'd you want to bring me here?"

"The view from the top's the best." Xion said.

"That's it?" I asked as the two of us walked up the stairs. "The view? How special can it be?" As we reached the top, Xion opened the door, and…

'Wow.' I thought as we stepped out onto the tower. 'I guess it's pretty special.'

(Stop playing Lazy Afternoons)

(Play At Dusk, I Will Think of You)

The Clock Tower's high elevation made it so that I could see the entire town. The sunset bathed the place in a warm orange, giving a nice contrast to the cool green of the forest. Truly, it was a peaceful place. Xion walked to the edge, sat down, and started to eat her ice cream. After a few seconds, she turned to me and smiled.

"Well, come on. Take a seat, and you better be quick. Your ice cream will melt." She said as she patted beside her. I nodded and sat down next to her before taking a bite of the ice cream. It tasted as good as it did before.

"Why'd you bring me up here?" I asked. "There has to be a reason, right?" Xion paused before answering.

"Well, today's the last day of your training, right?" She asked as I took another bite of the ice cream. "Tomorrow you'll start going on real missions for the Organization, so I thought I'd celebrate it with you!"

"Really…" I muttered. "You didn't have to, you know. I'm fine with just going back to the castle."

"Well, yeah, but…" Xion paused to think, a small smile on her face. "Roxas did something similar for me, before he fell asleep. He told me it was 'the icing on the cake.'"

I frowned. "There's no cake, though. Only ice cream." What did Roxas mean by that?

"Maybe, but I think that he meant it like… it's something extra." Xion explained. "Something nice that you do for yourself outside of work." I internalized that information.

"Okay…" I said as I finished my ice cream. "That makes sense, I think." I got up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to RTC. See you, Xion." I turned around to walk back to the Dark Corridor, but-

"Alxcus, hang on!" Xion called out, turning to look at me. "Would you like to do this tomorrow, too?" She asked. "Usually, it's only me out here, so having someone to talk to is nice."

There was a pause before I gave my answer.

"Sure." I said, copying her smile. "There's not much else for me to do anyway." Xion's smile grew wider.

"Thank you Alxcus!" She said. "See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah. Tomorrow." I replied. It looks like I'll have to postpone my investigation of the Old Mansion for a little while.