Disclaimer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own the Kingdom hearts franchise. If I did, you'd be seeing Kingdom Hearts 3 on shelves already.

Summary: 13 scientists, all very close research partners of Ansem the Wise, devise a method to destroy the Organization XIII, and save the worlds from the chaos that will befall them. 13 experiments, all sent to different worlds after creations, wander to discover their purpose. 3 of them, the ones given shelter by Organization XIII, wonder constantly "Why are we here, what is our purpose. What is our Destiny." The Defeat of Organization XIII gives these 3 experiments the leverage they need to abandon their past lives, and march onward to their future.

...Yeaaaaah, I suck at Summaries in General. Anyways, this story is part of my Trilogy Saga, composing of 17 stories. This is part of Saga 2, "Rise of Darkness". Because the rest of the stories are Original Creations, I can't host them here. Anyways, enjoy reading. Please review, unless you want Derxwna to come over there and hack you all to bits with his Swords and Scythes. (Slight mentions of a Xion/Derxwna pairing, Boredom took over when I needed to rewrite this -Shrugs-)

Shadows of Near Nothing

Introduction

(Day 358 – Believe)

The World That Never Was. A dark world, teetering close to the edge of the Realm of Darkness, and residing just within the confides of the Realm of In-between. This world is supposedly the Nobody of the End of the World, which was a Heartless World. The world was composed of two key places – The Dark City, and The Castle That Never Was. At the heart of Dark City stood a massive skyscraper – Memory Skyscraper. Throughout the city, lining along the streets and the area enclosing Memory Skyscraper, beings of black color with blue markings rose from the ground. They arose from every corner. These creatures were called Heartless, and the ones that rose from the ground were Neoshadow Heartless, a variety form of Pureblood Heartless. Behind the Castle, hanging high in the sky, was a moon shaped like a heart – Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. Albeit an artificial one, created by the slaying of Emblem Heartless by the Keyblade Bearers, it had its own purpose – to give existence to the Organization XIII, an elite group of people who lacked hearts – Nobodies – and craved to have back their humanity.

Walking into the area from the Fragment Crossing area, a black cloaked and hooded person walked into range of the Skyscraper that towered at the center of the city. More Neoshadows began forming behind him, slithering their body of darkness up from the ground below. The rain that was falling had suddenly stopped – the calm before the impending storm. The figure had stopped moving and stood there, looking around. Neoshadows had surrounded him on all sides and had been forming in greater numbers now. He took his left hand and materialized a weapon in it – a keyblade. He did the same with his right hand. The Oblivion and Oathkeeper keyblades – his trademark keyblades. He twirled them around before getting into his battle stance, and slashing wildly at the Neoshadows.

Meanwhile, in the Castle, watching from one of the many rooms, was another black cloaked figure, except his hood was down, so his black hair swayed in the open breeze around him. He had his piercing black eyes fixated down on the battle at Memory Skyscraper. His name was Derxwna Kapsyla, a Neo-Nobody. This form of nobody differed from the original breed – they had a heart. However, they weren't special nobodies like Roxas – the one fighting down at Memory Skyscraper, as well as the Nobody of Sora, The Chosen One, while having the looks of Ventus, a Keyblade Wielder of the past. He, along with an unknown number of them out there, were Artificial Nobodies, created with a Heart in place. Whatever the case was, Derxwna didn't think much of it. He just focused himself on the present.

"So, there's only seven now. Heh. Derxwna said coldly, as he rested his shoulders down on the support railing of the castles open area. "With the loss of Roxas, there goes the Organization's plans." he mentioned, before turning around to see two other figured standing against the wall, watching the fight from afar.

"Seriously guys, this stuff is boring as heck!" Derxwna began ranting, and when he started ranting about this topic, there was nearly nothing that could stop him. "We've been in the Organization longer then Roxas himself has, and we've never gone on a mission outside of the Realm of In-Between!" He turned again to face Memory Skyscraper and stared down at Roxas, groaning. "I figured that we'd have been given the task of bringing Roxas back to the Castle, but no. Xemnas just has to Give that order to Saïx. And all the blue-haired buffoon is doing is sending fucking Neoshadows after him! We could have been of WAY more use then those heartless!"His voice was agitated, full of confusion and regret.

One of the cloaked figured walked over to Derxwna and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've heard what Axel has told us many times before. It's because we're Neo-Nobodies. They have no clue how much our hearts will affect our actions, or the amplitude to which our powers will increase." The hooded figure said, and pulled off his hood; the persons long silver hair flowed down the back of his coat, resting firmly over his shoulders. He directed his cerulean blue eyes at Derxwna, who just shrugged off his hand and sighed.

"They don't trust us, Hirxcs. Or at the very least, Saïx and Xemnas don't." Derxwna replied harshly to the taller male beside him, and whispered out under his breath. "They didn't even tell us about Xion..." Derxwna uttered out a small sigh. That name brought memories to his head and feelings to his heart that would never be requited now. Hirxcs just shook his head and sighed as well.

The third robbed figure walked over to the duo beside the railing and placed his hand on Derxwna's other shoulder. "We all know how you feel Derx, but there's nothing we can do about it. Xemnas has his own agenda, and it's not like we can interfere. We would just be destroyed otherwise." The shorter figure said, trying to console his friend. His short brown hair rested just behind his ears as he gave a small grin to Derxwna.

Defeated, Derxwna sighed and closed his eyes. "You have a point, Xenvest. It just irks me so much that we arent trusted like the others are. Not even trusted enough to be told about Xion and her true purpose when all the others found out." Derxwna opened his eyes and resumed watching the battle at Memory Skyscraper, only to see that a figure wearing one of their robes – Riku, the Organization Imposter – was now in combat with Roxas.

"A Key of Destiny..." Derxwna mumbled to himself and scoffed, "I wonder if you'll actually be able to being about that Destiny." he finished, as he watched as Roxas was defeated by Riku, who had taken on the form of Ansem.

**

(Day 443 – Rebirth)

The World that Never Was was now in ruins. The once exotic Castle that stood towering in the distance had begun to crumble and break. The city was nearly destroyed. All that truly remained standing was Memory Skyscraper. In front of the tall structure, though, stood the trio of Neo-Nobodies. They gazed at the Skyscraper, then at the Castle. One noticeable thing was missing – Kingdom Hearts. It had been destroyed when Sora and his friends had invaded the world and defeated the Organization XIII.

The trio of friends took one last glance at their home, and opened the Corridor of Darkness and, one by one, began to walk through it. They had vowed not to return till they had found the remaining nobodies and reform the Organization, under a different purpose. Before steeping through the portal, Derxwna took one final look at the castle and heaved out a heavy sigh.

"Seems their destiny was only a dream they just sought to make real..." He thought to himself and walked through the portal. "Then why... why couldn't Xion be spared."