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Hikari listened to each Wielder with a smile and a nod, even laughing at Hickari (what a coincidence) when he boasted about obtaining the Mark first. Jason was quick to cut in, chiding the lad, but fortunately Skylar cut in with her introduction before matters could escalate between the two. After a while, nearly every Wielder introduced him or herself. Except a silver haired with a gloomy face. "And what about?" Hikari asked, pointing to the youth (no doubt the oldest of the bunch). "What's your name?"

He remained quiet and nonchalant, looking away. Hikari's brow twitched with impatience. Before Hikari could ask the question again, the youth spoke. "Sess..." the Wielder said, his tone a natural hiss with a gentle, slightly deep voice. Master Hikari gawked for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"What?" She asked.

"My name... it's Sess." Sess replied, brushing a loose lock of hair from his green eyes.

"I see..." she mumbled, as though trying to note everything about the youth. There was something dark about him. "Well... with that settled. I am Hikari, granddaughter of Kairi and Keyblade Master. I am your guardian for the Exam, as well as your judge and master. The first portion of your exam... is to uncover who is behind these attacks. You will all be divided into squads. Each squad will receive orders from me, privately, about their destination. The purpose of this portion is to not only have an edge against the Darkness, but to also teach unity and teamwork... as well as balance." She explained thoroughly, not once fumbling over her words. "The second portion of the Exam will be told to you should you pass the first and return in one piece. Now... are there any questions?"

Noooo! That camp sounds horrible. What ever happened to camp being fun? Hrm... I may have to go down there and save you :P You don't have to if...

Blah... lol Awesome. By the way, the conclusion of Lucrix's training is up.

Oh no! *Rubs hands together until they're hot from the friction and then places them over your wrists* I hope you survive... who else will...

[Continued...]

Lucrix was at a standstill with his replica, their blades locked. Petals swirled around them in the Training Room, like a blizzard of shadows. Lucrix was at his limit, sweat beading down his forehead. The Regen spell wore off in the Dark Corridor fluctuation, his wounds anew from the final battle. This particular replica was identical to him in speed, skill, strength, and focus. It had thought to the point of both sapience and sentience. This made the replica far more dangerous.

The two disengaged simultaneously, as though they were mere reflections in a mirror. The moved as one, clashing and slashing, parrying blow after blow. Lucrix hooked his blade with his opponent's, both of whom gave a sharp tug. Neither gave way, and thus did they begin to spar, their footwork in sync as their lone blades performed complex, yet beautiful strokes. Lucrix struck high, his opponent parrying the blade by hooking under it and shoving it to the side. The replica thrust the weapon forward but Lucrix side-stepped, bringing his sword in, and countered with with an under-to-upward thrust. The replica quickly brought its blade back in, quickly parrying the blade with a complex, high-angled parry.

The Nobody and his replica were practically dancing in the flurry of petals, an idyllic sight if there were any onlookers. The dance slowed, Lucrix's defenses giving way to exhaustion. In order to avoid being severely wounded, Lucrix spun into the strike radiance, getting grazed by a potential death-dealing thrust, and unhooked the hookswords. He gave a heavy blow into the clone's abdomen, knocking it back, and flew forward into a roll. He was quickly on his feet in time to see the replica come forward with twin downward strikes. Lucrix was forced to throw himself to the side, getting a deep cut on his side and shredding his cloak. He lay on the ground, wincing in pain, his counterpart slowly stalking in for the kill. Lucrix slowly rose up, trying to catch his breath.

He had, in a short amount of time, spent more energy than was properly necessary. It was easy to defeat a clone of oneself, but it was completely different to fight the cloneof a Nobody on par of that of a normal upstart Wielder. Lucrix now no longer had the energy to manipulate the thorns and petals, to disperse the replica who now possessed individualism, nor to open a Dark Corridor. He gave a rare, yet sardonic smile. Non-existence was at the door, and he relished it.

Lucrix thrusted both of his blades into the ground and removed his now ruined cloak. He bled from multiple wounds, but the dark ichor didn't bother him. The Nobody turned and faced his opponent, his emotionless eyes shimmering with survival instinct. His heart lacked the selfishness of survival, he knew, and that was what made him into a Nobody. With hungry cat eyes, Lucrix charged forward, attacking with a flurry of blows. The replica, as intelligent and as skilled as Lucrix, was unable to understand this sudden change. An exhausted and battle-hungry Lucrix threw his entire being into this new assault, purely barbaric and unpredictable, striking with heavy blows. The clone did not exist long enough to understand desperation, and thus didn't understand the thoughts running through its artificial mind.

From the beginning, Lucrix manipulated the entire training session. He purposely buried the fragments of his memories, of his own ambitions and plots from the creation of the clones. He extended his consciousness to each clone, to give them a sort of collective memory. The final clone had an artifical existence, its form having flesh-and-blood endurance, an individual mind, and an artificial consciousness. It knew every move and every amount of conscious skill that Lucrix had. But it didn't know about where his tecniques hailed from... and this primal tecnique pushed Lucrix further.

The Nobody tore away the replica's weapons, spun in low, and knocked in a knee. Lucrix kicked the clone in the face and kept on it, bashing and slashing it with pure primal fury. Eventually, the clone burst into petals, only leaving behind a single cloak. As Lucrix regained his senses, he dismissed his swords and donned the cloak, zipping it up and throwing on the cowl. His muscles ached, pushed to their limits. Lucrix did not believe in holding back...

He left the Training Room, the thorns fast fading away. Lucrix needed rest, and thus he wandered to his room, his wounds left open.

Oh! And we did just start. So go ahead and post as soon as you're able.

Aww... sorry. Sorry I wasn't on yesterday. I had no internet. So... are you alive?

Alright, cool. I'll post soon after I run this errand.

Whoo! You are awesome. Thank you very much ^^

Ack! Jayn, could you add the pre-fix "Kingdom Hearts:" to The Time Spiral? I forgot to do it... I blame my tablet for messing with me.

Lol, so how's Hell? I heard it wss nice this time of year :P I'm bored. Just working on The Time Spiral. You?

You miss our talks? You're strange :P Aww... I'm sorry.

Ah, alright...

Hey, mate. I'm not entirely sure how to respond to Nikki's post... or of any of yours... not without being newbish. Any suggestions?

Lol, I can understand that.

No problem.

Yo man, your team is in a boss battle in Far-Off Touch.

Accepted.

Accepted.

[Continued...]

Lucrix caught his hooksword with his right hand, unhooking it from the left and keeping the two of them in a cross-guard. A replca's blade came slamming down, caught in Lucrix's guard, his own feet properly positioned to support his defense. Like a Venus fly trap, Lucrix snapped both of his hookswords over the replica's sword, spinning to the right. In a moment of ballet, he did something so complex with the three swords that it was practically breath-taking. The left hooksword entwined itself with the rogue hookblade, whereas the right grasped the guard-and-hilt. He spun on the balls of his right foot, guarding against a side-swipe, and simultaneously leaping away, ripping the weapon away from the clone and avoiding a secondary strike. Lucrix landed, still spinning, letting loose the left hooksword and the three linked blades bashed into three charging clones. They had no time to dodge or guard, causing them to burst into petals.

Three remained.

The collective will Lucrix expelled to the various clones began to accumulate. The three remaining replicas became stronger and smarter, gathering the lingering power. Lucrix, himself, was gradually getting stronger. However, he was still a single apparition, giving out more energy than a a team of individuals. The training session wasn't meant to see if he could take out an entire team of twelve, but rather to boost his stamina. Lucrix stopped his macabre dance in the center of the training room, unhooking the hookblades, his stance one of statue-esque beauty. Legs together, back straight, arms down but slightly extended, and the body slightly turned. The twin hookswords glistened darkly, contrasting with his flowing white mane which was trying to catch up with Lucrix's superhuman speed.

The three remaining replicas surrounded the Nobody; one behind, one lower-left, one middle-right. The one behind struck at Lucrix, who quickly spun around and brought a single hooksword up to bear. Blocking the strike, Lucrix turned himself around to meet the lower-left clone's scissor-cut, reversing his grip on his single hooksword. The mid-right clone took advantage of the lock and charged forward, performing a high-low swipe. Lucrix turned to see the on-coming clone, but then sensed a nearby danger. A heavy side-swipe came in heavy from the left as Lucrix turned to see what it was. Lucrix narrowed his eyes and reacted as fast as he could. The Nobody pressed aside the lock of the attacker, broke the guard from the scissor-lock, and parried the double-strike while forcibly accepting the single blow to the back. Lucrix grunted and fell to one knee.

Lucrix summoned seven columns of thorns around him, forcing the clones away from him. Lucrix rose slowly. "Regen..." he muttered, black petals falling around him and gracing his wounds. Particles of light flew from the wounds as green ribbons laced them. The Nobody snapped his fingers, letting loose the columns to strike at the clones. They were fast, dodging the sudden strikes and weaving their way towards Lucrix. Lucrix felt his strength returning, felt the wounds fade away. He spun the hookswords around, anticipating the replicas. As the drew near, Lucrix acted fast, fading into a corridor of darkness and spreading petals everywhere.

Everything happened so fast. Lucrix fought the clones wherever he went, whether it was in the Between and Betwixt or in the Training Room. Petals flew everywhere, the air being disrupted by the constant opening and closing of the Dark Corridor, the sounds of steel-against-steel ringing throughout the seal chamber. Two clones flew out of the fluxes, bursting into petals upon impact against a wall.

There was only one clone left.

[To Be Continued...]