The lights of Dekayx's room blared on automatically and the female clawed at her eyes in pain, immediately unhappy at being woken up. Quickly finding her mask and eye band, she switched off the lights, leaving her in the darkness she so enjoyed. Growling and rolling out of bed, Dekayx slunk over to her dresser, pulling out her usual uniform. Getting dressed with one eyes in the dark was difficult, but even with only two weeks of experience, Dekayx could pull it off. Pulling on her heavy boots, the girl exited her room for her four o'clock walk. Wandering towards the window that dominated the second floor, the fiery nobody stared into the blackness that was indistinguishable from the thorns on the glass. What would it be like if there was light outside? If a Kingdom Hearts was shining pale light on the ground? She didn't wonder these things often, but occasionally the thought of what it was like popped into her head. Shaking the flame-colored locks of her hair, Dekayx walked down the stairs to the training hall.

The entire castle was dark, with no light coming from anywhere. It was the same in the training hall until she flipped the switch. Thankfully the lights here were not as bright, illuminating the room with a diffuse white. Breaking the silence by walking into the arena, number five summoned her sword, the hiss of flames accompanying the shadows. Giving it an experimental flourish, she then launched into her routine, slashing and charging the air. Kitexa had suggested a drill for her, but number five had created her own. One thing Dekayx could never stand was being given a demeaning task. It angered her, in a sense. It was a sort of rumbling in her chest that she couldn't create herself, like a fleeting ember that went out if you tried to grab it. But embers never last long anyway, and this supposed anger burned out quickly. She didn't believe that they could "feel" emotions as nobodies, like some of the other pansies did. Dekayx's gruffness and short temper were all part of her personality, not something that she "felt". Even when she expressed these things, they felt like empty threats: something only spoken, never done. Forcing power through her arm and into her sword, Dekayx lit her tachi aflame. Watching it flicker with a sort of evil spark in one violet eye, number five then focused her eyes on a spot on the floor, willing it to flare. This sort of mastery was new to her, a higher level of control so as not to burn the castle down. Secretly she wondered if it even could burn. Training dummies left in this hall overnight fixed themselves and all signs of wear and tear in the training hall were gone the next morning. It was like the castle could take care of itself. Snorting in self-satisfaction, Dekayx reveled inwardly as fire whirled on a floor tile a few feet away. Kitexa had said that Axel was able to summon an entire wall of flame to pen an opponent in. Well, Dekayx was going to be better.

It had been maybe three or four hours and Dekayx was still training, not tired in the least. Perhaps there was something to be said for the nothingness that kept a chokehold on her body. The heavy training hall door opened behind her, slamming shut after a few seconds, but it drew no reaction from number five. This morning routine had been established a long time ago without there being anything spoken between them.
"Morning Anaxn." The cold female nodded to her subordinate, a gesture unnoticed by Dekayx as it was made behind her back, and walked over to the target range to the fire element's left. The superior's bow was already strung left to right across her chest, as it always was in the morning, and her quiver crossed it perpendicularly. Facing down the center isle, Anaxn began pulling off her bow when a hand on the wood stopped her.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dekayx asked, giving her superior a cocky smile. Number 1 turned her head just slightly, the empty look in her eyes barely interested.
"I need a challenge and slashing air's too easy. Fight me." She challenged boldly. In all the two weeks they had existed, no one had challenged Anaxn's superiority. Everyone had accepted this as fact and with her stand-offish personality, no one had any need to. The cold female stared at her for a few more seconds, then pulled her bow from her shoulders completely and took a step away from the target range. The fire element grinned; this was going to be exciting, or at least would be if she had feelings. She could already feel the energy running through her body like liquid fire. Her only battles had been with Kitexa, her instructor, and although the girl was number two, that wasn't good enough for Dekayx. She wanted power and the best way to do that was to fight the best.

They took a few steps apart, each readying themselves. Number five had long since put away her tachi and the superior was holding her arrow carefully in its notch. The black topped girl preferred fighting with her hands as her main style. They stared at each other with blank looks that each somehow promised challenge, Dekayx's with napalm and the promise of burned flesh, Anaxn's with bruises and an aching body. Number five charged first, leaping up and aiming for her superior's head with her heavy boot. Giving a slight kick with her feet, Anaxn sent herself backwards, avoiding the now flaming boot by just enough to feel the heat. She loosed an arrow at point blank range, aiming for her subordinate's chest, but the girl's arms quickly crossed and burst into flames, incinerating all but her arrow's point. As soon as number five landed, she began running in a fast circle around her superior, blurring with the acceleration. Anaxn had pulled another arrow from her quiver and seemed to be waiting patiently for her subordinate to strike. Her blank, almost bored look irked Dekayx to no end, although it was a hollow annoyance. Finally as the fire element came around to face number one, she slung her back arm around at Anaxn, the fireball in her palm aimed at her head. The fire element smiled as Anaxn's blue eyes widened, the fire reflected in them as it flared. Moving fast, number one dropped to the floor as through pulled by a vacuum, making Dekayx curse as the fireball passed over her head with a rush of air. Still crouched on the ground, the superior tilted her body up and took quick but careful aim at number five's head. The red fletched arrow thrummed towards its mark, its quick release matched by an equally quick cross block by the target. But it wasn't fast enough and the point of the arrow skimmed the nobody's hand and left cheek, making a slit in the mask and skin that would have bled if she had a heart. The fire element stood stunned, feeling the cut sting in protest to exposure to open air. Her hand lifted slightly, as though to assure her that it was there on her blind side, then her uncovered right eye caught the distortion from Anaxn just in time. Her right foot pushed off into a twist and just barely avoided the blast of wind aimed at her.

That does it, Dekayx thought as she grit her teeth, slapping her hand together in front of her masked mouth. No more obeying her instructor's limits. The fire element pulled in a deep breath of oxygen, focusing entirely on her superior's emotionless face, and spat head sized flames from her mouth. The fireballs swarmed the wind element, whose eyes narrowed, and she tumbled to the side, leaving her bow on the ground and slipping out of her quiver. Number five grinned with an echo of nastiness, watching as the now disarmed nobody dodged the flying flames, a few close calls scorching her hair and cloak. She felt the traces of exhilaration, victory and eagerness swarming the edge of her mind and, setting flames licking around her hand and stepping over the now dissolving weapons, she charged her superior. The shorter woman looked up from the crouch she had ended up in and the flame-haired nobody snarled, grabbing her superior's face and lifting her to her feet. She sent power, the nothingness that inhabited her heart, coursing into her hand, fire flaring and leaving black marks between her fingers on the other woman's face, smiling viciously.

Then, from behind number five's hand and through the crackling of fire, Anaxn muttered, "Bad idea."

The pyromaniac's feet were suddenly swept out from under her and her grip was wrenched off as a torrent of wind surrounded number one. Giving a cry of anger as she was thrown backwards into the combat dummies, the fire element included a creative swear into her screaming once she saw the gale wind dome that blurred her superior's form. Landing dexterously about twenty feet away, she quickly stood, growling as she summoned her tachi. She had been this close to beating her!, Dekayx thought almost vehemently, lighting her weapon with roaring flames reminiscent of her remembered rage. It seemed that the superior had not been given her title for nothing after all. This fight was going to be more difficult than she expected, the black haired woman thought as she rushed the now becalmed and standing nobody. Bringing her flaming sword whistling above her head, the charging nobody swung down towards her opponent's shoulder when she heard,
"Stop." And with that, the blow was stopped by Anaxn's hand, blade caught between her fingers. Number five stood shocked, staring with her one violet eye at the sword in her hand, which was now sheer black metal without a lick of flame or heat. Then she caught a flicker of movement and comprehension came crashing over her head. Number one had created a vacuum of air around her tachi, both creating the distortion she had seen and sucking away the oxygen needed for her flames to burn. Feeling irrationality tinge her personality, Dekayx turned to glare at the shorter woman and was stopped by her stare, sapphire colored eyes emphasized by the scarlet lines marked down her face. Anaxn let go of the fire element's sword, which the combat enthusiast then let dissolve into dark threads and ashes, and turned away.
"The rest are up." She deadpanned, and began calmly walking towards the door, her bow and quiver simply reappearing in their respective places with only a shimmer of darkness. Number five watched her walk away, even still as the marble doors ground shut. Then she scoffed, storming back over to the combat dummies and punching one of them so hard her knuckles ached. What right did she have to end their match? Matches were won through victory over the other and not ended until the loser had died; or, for a merciful person, been incapacitated. Another hollow rush of anger throbbed in her and she directed it through her leg to slam into the combat dummy, the echo of feeling dissipating into the air upon impact. That was the law of combat, and nothing less would be accepted. Growling in frustration, at both her superior and her inability to retain her anger, she began her daily training regimen, punching and kicking her target.
"One of these days," She snarled, "I will defeat you!"

Lunch was the only meal Dekayx ever deigned to eat; partly due to a deeply ingrained habit from her other, and partly due to her refusal to acknowledge she had once been human. Wolfing down what remained of her chicken wrap, the fire element started on her pasta salad. That the fridge always contained what she wanted no longer intrigued her. The castle could do whatever it damn well pleased, as far as she was concerned, considering she spent 17 of her 18 waking hours in the training hall. Her next bite of salad was rudely interrupted by a finger jabbing at her shoulder.
"See, look! She's got them too!" The girl's flame-tinged black hair turned all the way over to the speaker, as only her right eye was uncovered by her headband, and finally noticed number nine and three, the latter's finger poking into the fire element's arm. Irritated by this invasion of space, she directed a stray wish to light the third's digit on fire before pulling around the cloth of her shirt to see what they were pointing at. A circle of white surrounding a blue heart was patched seamlessly onto the shirt. But the black outlining the image and the threatening way in which a few large strands of darkness curled around and seemed about to pierce the center of the heart spoke for itself. Dekayx noticed again that the illusion element had yet to stop poking her arm, and the remnants of anger that had been pressurizing inside her lashed out. A huge strike of flame cut down the center of the table, startling Naryx across from her by slicing his pizza box in half, and number five snarled savagely. She released a shell of fire around her, forcing Luxaji and Xetaik to back away, and blasted her chair into smithereens. Flaming sections of wood flew across the dining room and the four nobodies in the hall took cover under the ravaged table as fire spat and roared. Finally the fire element roared in exhasperation and stomped out the door, edges of her clothing and hair still flaming from the ourburst. Number twelve peered out from under the table long enough to see her burning footprints pass into the training hall.

Dekayx trod slowly up the massive staircase to her bedroom, holding the railing under her firm but weak grip. As soon as her instructor had woken up, she had demanded a battle, which number two at first declined until the fire element threatened to burn her if she didn't. It did not go as she desired. Not only was Dekayx recovering from her bout with Anaxn, but Kitexa was still number two, despite not being the superior. Dekayx would not say that she was tired, despite having trained to the limits of her nothingness. She would not say that her body still ached from being thrown into the wall by the short woman's wind dome. And she would not admit that her body was still spasming from her instructor's lightning bolts. The brunette had ended their match so she could eat dinner, although her expression said that she worried for the fire element's health. The black haired girl snorted angrily as she mounted the final step and turned down the left hallway. She was nobody; health was an illusion to her.
Then suddenly something flew over her head and she ducked instinctively. Glaring upwards, she saw the tail end of a black cloak and boots glide by and a green-topped head turned around to look at her with an overly enthusiastic grin.
"Look!" Xurikus yelled back at her, arms waving frantically. "Time is flying!" Whatever else he was going to say was cut short by the fact that he hit the end of the hallway rather hard. Not even looking back to see who cheered, "Did it work, Xurikus?", Dekayx trudged wearily into her room, making sure to hit the idiot with her door as she did.