The meeting room was black as night. Everything in the room was either black or dark grey. There was no color anywhere, except for the people in the room.

On the throne-like chairs all facing each other in a large circle, twelve people in white coats sat. All looked to Tayressa, who sat on the highest chair. They clearly were waiting for something. But no one said a word to break the silence.

After what seemed like ages of silence one of the cloaked figures spoke. She sat to the left of Tayressa. Her hair was silver falling down her back. Her eyes were the color of sapphires.

"Well, can she use it?" The woman asked. She seemed to be in her early twenties.

"Yes, in fact, she wields two." Tayressa responded calmly.

A collective gasp spread through the room. The group began whispering to each other. Though Tayressa could not discern each word from another, she knew they were all asking questions. Tayressa raised her hand calmly drawing all attention back to her.

"We are not completely sure how this has happened. I'm sure Hysui will make it her priority to discover that for us." Tayressa said looking at a woman on the second seat to her right. The woman with short dark brown hair nodded her head.

"But what if she goes rogue? She could kill us all!" A woman, probably in her early twenties, four seats to Tayressa's right, with bright red hair asked.

"Peace, Sykitune. She will not turn on us. What reason would she have?" Tayressa asked looking to the group for an answer. No one spoke up.

"Does she remember who she was?" A blonde woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties, three seats to the right of Tayressa asked calmly.

"No, she remembers nothing from what we have seen. But maybe over time, she will remember." Tayressa answered. Her voice was kept low, meant to soothe those in the room.

"She resonates power, I wouldn't be one to bet against her." A teenage girl with dark red hair commented. She was continuously tossing dice up into the air and catching them. Her gold eyes locked onto Tayressa.

"What of it Aryum? She is no different than the rest of you." Tayressa said calmly.

A woman with light purple hair that reached her mid back laughed. "No different than us? Are you saying we all can wield a keyblade? That we all demand the attention of every Heartless just by entering a room? I believe you are mistaken there."

"Yes, she ranks higher than most of you. But she does not know her strength. She still must learn." Tayressa said still remaining calm.

"Most of us?" A teenage boy with blonde hair asked. "Are you saying there are some here who outrank her?"

Tayressa smiled at the only boy in the room. "Yes, a select few do outrank her." She said.

"Who?" A girl in her late teens with light brown hair that just brushed her shoulders asked.

"Myself, Aysui, and Syrine." Tayressa answered with a smirk. The group again began to whisper.

"Who will be responsible for her?" A woman with dark blue hair asked. Her head was tilted to the side curiously.

"Yes, who is to watch her?" A woman with pale brown hair that looked almost pink asked.

"It will be a shared responsibility. We all will play our part. That is all for now. This meeting is adjourned." Tayressa commanded. The Heartless around the room nodded before vanishing, off to complete the days' tasks. All but three.

"I think they bought it." The silver-haired woman to Tayressa's left said with a smirk.

"Good, we don't need trouble from them." Tayressa said coldly.

"But will it last long?" Aysui asked.

Tayressa looked down at the floor, where six days ago Yuki had been introduced to the organization. "So long as she follows orders from us the illusion will remain." Tayressa said.

"So we can't tell the kid the truth. But what if one of the others let it slip?" The silver-haired woman asked.

"Then we handle that little slip and say it never happened." Tayressa said, "You worry too much Syrine."

"She has all reason to worry. This could go wrong in far too many ways." Aysui said.

"Perhaps you're right, but we can only wait and see." Tayressa said grinning slightly. "Let's see what our princess does."

*<3*

The room was black with red designs inlaid in the wall. Yuki traced over them with her hand slowly. The x'ed out heart repeated several times. It was like a crest for a kingdom, Yuki thought as her hand traced over it once more. Yuki walked away from the wall thinking.

They said this was her seventh day here. But Yuki couldn't remember the first six. Not in detail anyways. She remembered learning to fight, which came naturally like she had done it a thousand times before. She remembered being introduced to the other members in the meeting room, which really was just her being shown to everyone. And she remembered being given a diary. Which, as far as Yuki could tell, had no purpose.

Yuki stopped pacing for a moment and went to her bed. The bed like everything else was red and black. Tucked in between the mattress and the bed frame was a small book and a pencil. Yuki took out the pencil and book then sat on her bed. She opened the book and stared at the first page. Before she could begin writing there was a knock on her door. Yuki put the book back and answered the door.

Outside was a boy that looked maybe 14. He had blonde hair and purple eyes that vaguely reminded Yuki of a cat. He looked up at her calmly.

"Lady Tayressa has summoned you." The boy said. It was clear in his voice he didn't want to be doing this. Yuki nodded and stepped into the hall closing her door.

The boy sighed and led the way through the halls not saying a word. Yuki looked around in awe.

Though all the rooms she had seen so far were black, most of the castle was not. The halls were white and every room she passed was white. It was almost blinding.

"What is this place?" Yuki asked shyly. In front of her, the boy snickered. "What?" Yuki asked confused.

"That's the first time you've spoken since you arrived here." The boy replied, "I was beginning to think you were a zombie. And to answer your first question, this is Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" Yuki asked. Her eyes wandered all over.

"Yes, one of our two castles. You'll probably see the second one in a couple months. Right now we're all stationed here for some unknown reason. Wasting our time probably." The boy explained a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Oh," Yuki said. She looked around again. This place was amazing. But looked confusing. Probably very easy to get lost in.

The boy took Yuki to a room near the top floor. He stopped at the door and motioned for her to enter. Yuki gave him a small smile before entering the room soundlessly.

The room like most others Yuki had seen was dark. There were windows that looked out over a sky full of stars. The sight took away Yuki's breath.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yuki heard a voice she had learned to recognize as Tayressa's ask.

Yuki nodded and looked over at Tayressa who stood a few steps to her right looking out the window.

"It's a beautiful sight. The darkness of space, broken by the light of each star." Tayressa said, the hint of a smile on her lips.

"The light of each star?" Yuki asked looking out the window again.

"Yes, every star in the sky is a small fragment of light that fights the darkness." Tayressa said. "But the darkness fights back."

Yuki looked at her again, now confused. "It does? How?" Yuki asked.

Tayressa chuckled slightly, "With things like us."

Yuki furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Things like us?" Yuki asked.

"Do you know what we are?" Tayressa asked. She glanced at Yuki out of the corner of her eyes.

Yuki shook her head confused. Was there something wrong with all of them? Yuki didn't see anything weird, except maybe odd hair and eye colors.

"We are Heartless. We were born from the darkness in the heart of a human. We are the weapons of darkness." Tayressa said. Yuki's hand went to her chest where her heart should have been if she had one. There was no thumping of a heart. It was silent.

"How can we be born from darkness?" Yuki asked unsurely. It wasn't something Yuki had ever thought of. But then again, she hadn't been around long enough to think about such things.

Tayressa chuckled again. "When someone gives their heart to darkness, become completely controlled by it, they become a Heartless. Or another Heartless steals their heart. Either way, a Heartless is born." She explained with a wave of her hand.

Yuki swallowed and nodded. She looked at the stars wondering what gave the stars their light. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Are all Heartless like us?" She asked after a moment of thinking.

"No, we are rare. Most look like the monsters they are. They can't think for themselves either. They rely purely on instinct." Tayressa explained, her voice remained calm not wavering in the slightest.

"Monsters? Are we monsters?" Yuki asked concerned. She didn't want to be called a monster.

"We are perceived as monsters, but we are not. At least not us elites. We do not merely act upon our instincts like animals. We are civilized. We do not act needlessly, we always have a purpose." Tayressa replied.

Yuki nodded again. Her mind was trying to comprehend everything she was being told. It was a lot of new information, and there was a lot more she wanted to know.

"Now, there is something I wanted to speak to you about." Tayressa said walking away from the window. Yuki looked after her, unsure if she should follow. Tayressa continued speaking after a second, taking Yuki's silence as a go ahead.

"As Heartless, we have a hierarchy much like a wolf pack. Except this hierarchy can't be challenged." Tayressa explained calmly. Her hand motioned beside her. Yuki watched silently, not questioning.

"To put it simply, the smaller the Heartless the lower in the hierarchy it is, Shadows being the lowest. Then after all the small Heartless come the bosses who have their own order. After the bosses are us elites. We outrank all the Heartless who don't look human. But even amongst us, there is a certain order of command." Tayressa went on.

"What's the order?" Yuki asked shyly. She was afraid of asking the wrong question and angering her leader.

"The numbers in this organization. You will obey anyone whose number is less than yours. Twelve, eleven and so on." Tayressa said, a sly smile on her face, though Yuki could not see it. Yuki nodded.

"Alright. Is that all my lady?" Yuki asked looking down at the floor.

"Yes, you are dismissed." Tayressa replied. Yuki nodded before exiting the room.

The boy with blonde hair stood outside the door leaning against a wall.

"Would you like a guide back to your room, or do you feel like getting lost?" The boy asked casually. The remark caused Yuki to smile slightly.

"A guide would be appreciated. Thank you." Yuki replied. The boy nodded before turning down the hall leading Yuki back the way she came.

They didn't speak as they walked the halls. Yuki looked around trying to memorize the path they were taking. The boy looked straight forward occasionally glancing back at Yuki.

"If you still can't find your way around tomorrow just summon up a smaller Heartless. They know the castle and can take you where ever you want to go." The boy said noticing the way Yuki was looking around.

Yuki glanced up at him. "Thanks for the advice, uh" she trailed off unsure of the boys' name.

"X, though it's no crime if you don't remember." The boy said looking back in front of him.

"Right. Thanks, X." Yuki said with a small smile.

X stopped walking and motioned to a door. "There's your room. See you around." He said before walking off.

Yuki watched him for a second before going into her room. She sighed as she looked around. The room was plain. For some reason that bothered Yuki. There should be lots of things in a room. Or that's what Yuki thought.

Yuki went to her bed and pulled out her diary. She opened it again and stared at the first page. She chewed her lip thoughtfully before beginning to write.

Day 7-Entry 1,
Tayressa told me to keep a diary to record my thoughts. She said no one would check it unless something really bad happened. I don't get the point. Why would it matter what I wrote when something bad happens? I'm confused. I've been here for seven days but I don't remember much. I've learned about what I am though. Heartless, a creature made from darkness. Most don't look human, but we do. I wonder why.

Yuki closed the diary and hid it away again. She stretched before laying down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind continued to process the events of the day as Yuki drifted off to sleep.