Woop! It's Demyx! Everyone give a cheer! -crickets chirp-

Love to my Donny for reviewing, and for my Roxas, for nagging at my muse.


It all began with the arrival of a youth, too old to be called a boy, but with an air of innocence that refuted his being called a man. His ocean-blue eyes looked around in confusion, as he wandered through echoing, empty streets that smelled like rain, his guitar thumping lightly against his back with each step.

"Helloooo?" His voice was light, the voice of one used to singing.

Silence answered him, pounding in his ears for a full minute, before being broken by the fall of heavy boots. The youth swivelled in the direction of the sound, leaning forwards in his eagerness to see the new arrivals. From the gloom that gathered between two buildings emerged a pair of figures, one tall and solidly-built, the other of a more wiry frame. Both were clad from head to toe in black, their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods. The youth rocked back on his feet, hesitancy evident in the way his body skewed away from them, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Uh...Hi! Can you help me? I'm lost. I was just walki-"

"Welcome." The taller man's voice was British, but laced with coarseness, "to the World That Never Was."

The shorter chuckled, then reached up and pushed off his hood to reveal a face heavily patterned with scars. His right eye was covered by an eyepatch and his hair, black with streaks of grey, was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hi there. Xigbar's the name. This here's Xaldin." He jerked a thumb at his companion.

The youth smiled hesitantly, as the taller of the two men tutted, as if annoyed by Xigbar's interruption.

"Nice to meet you. My name's...Myde..." Funny, it took an effort to recall.

"Not any more." Xigbar gave him a twisted little grin, the scar on his chin stretching. "Boss says you're Demyx now. Got it-" He stopped, a scowl knitting his brows together. "Remind me to shoot Axel." This was directed at Xaldin, then Xigbar continued to himself "three damned weeks to master his firepower, and two seconds to come up with that phrase. Got-it-fucking-memorised..."

Myde, Demyx, stared at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face. "Who's Axel? And why do I have to have a new name?"

Xaldin let out a sigh, pushing back his hood to fix Xigbar with a stare. "You're doing an appalling job of explaining. Shut up."

As he turned his head, Demyx realised that what he thought were tribal markings were actually some of the most impressive sideburns he had ever seen, and Xaldin's hair was woven into fine dreadlocks, secured in a top-knot. He wouldn't have expected the owner of such a clipped, cultured voice to be so...wild-looking.

Xaldin's indigo gaze flicked back to him and he gulped. Scary, too.

"Let me start from the beginning. Come, we can walk as we talk."

The two men turned then, and Demyx had to run to catch them up. Xaldin half-turned his head, not looking at him, but still directing his words to him.

"This, as I have already said, is the World That Never Was. It is where Nobodies come after the Severance."

Demyx opened his mouth, but thought better of interrupting. Xaldin carried on, heedless. "The Severance is when a person's heart is taken over by the darkness. They become what is known as a Heartless, a being of pure evil, intent only on gathering hearts to feed on."

Demyx's nose wrinkled in disgust. Xigbar, glancing back, noticed and chuckled.

"Yum yum."

Pausing to glare his companion into silence, the taller man continued, "when a strong individual becomes a Heartless, the body that remains re-animates, takes on a semblance of its former intelligence. These are the Nobodies. They come in various forms, depending on strength and natural inclinations...you will doubtless see what I mean soon enough." He spared a look over his shoulder, leaving off his narrative until he recieved a nod from Demyx, a sign that he had understood so far. "Now. This is the important part. When someone exceptional is severed, the body retains its form and all of its former mental faculties, with the exception of memory. It develops new abilities specific to itself and its personality. However, it is reborn without a heart, and therefore, incomplete. This is us."

"Us?"

"Yep! The best of the best!" This was chirped out by Xigbar. "Finest walkin', talkin' corpses in all the worlds. Don't it make ya feel all fuzzy?"

Demyx was silent, his blue eyes glazing over slightly as he digested the sudden tide of information that had flooded him.

"We're here." Xaldin gestured to the monolith of glass and metal that had dominated the skyline since Demyx had arrived, the door of which was now only a few steps away. The boy's head tilted back to take in its full height, and he let out an impressed whistle.

"Come, everyone is waiting." The taller man's tone had softened into something like welcome, and a half-smile turned up the corner of his mouth as he held the door open for Demyx to enter. Xigbar, however, put his hands into his pockets and walked towards the wall of the building, nonchalantly placing one boot against it and tilting himself back. As calmly as breathing, he began to walk. Up the wall. Demyx watched him, eyes widening in shock, mouth working silently to form words. Xaldin merely tutted in annoyance, directing the boy's attention back to himself and the door that still stood open. Stumbling slightly as he tried to stare after Xigbar's ascent and walk at the same time, Demyx moved into the entrance hall.

The first impression he recieved was white. White walls, white floor, white...everything. He squinted for a moment, blinking against the brightness after the gloom of the city.

"You should leave that here."

Demyx looked askance at the taller man, until he gestured somewhere over his shoulder. Reaching up, Demyx's hand found the neck of a guitar-case. Blinking in surprise, he tilted his head to look at it. Now, when had he picked that up?

"It will be brought up later."

Snapping out of his daze, Demyx slipped the guitar-strap from his shoulder and propped the case up next to the doorway. Suddenly, he felt strangely empty, his body too light.He decided he liked it better with the guitar on, but even as he reached out to pick it up, Xaldin's footsteps resumed ahead of him, and Demyx was forced to catch up or get lost. The man walked fast, boots clicking against the white marble floor, his own flip-flops made an almost comical contrast, slapping haphazardly. Demyx asked with no little amount of awe "is that...Is that Xigbar's power? Walking up walls like that?"

Xaldin snorted, the most human thing he'd done so far. "Hardly. If that parlour trick was his only ability, we wouldn't tolerate his attitude for longer than it took to kill him."

"Oh..."

"His speciality is spatial distortion." Seeing Demyx's blank look, Xaldin clarified, "he alters space. He can make a room as wide as a street shrink to a box, or even warp the walls until his victim is trapped inside a sphere."

Demyx stared at his feet, flip-flopped toes poking out from beneath ragged cuffs of denim jeans. He didn't feel like much, certainly not an "exceptional individual," and if he was suddenly imbued with powers like Xigbar's, he felt no indication inside of himself. He glanced back up at the other man, whose eyes seemed to have warmed a little.

"Don't worry, Demyx. If you were not capable of anything significant, you would not be here."

A little smile tugged at his mouth, then, and he nodded.

"Thanks, Xaldin. I just...this is all new, y'know?"

Xaldin nodded in return, his dreads shifting as he did.

"Now, we shall go and find #2, and introductions can begin."

Demyx's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Number Two?"

"Oh, my apologies. I should have explained." Xaldin's face darkened slightly, mouth twitching in apparent annoyance at his own laxness. "Upon becoming one of the Organization, our group, each of us is given a new name, a number to signify what order they joined in, and a title indicating something of their ability. Xigbar is Number Two, the Freeshooter."

"Freeshooter?"

"Yes. His weapon is a pair of guns that harness the energy that fills this world and fires it as bullets."

"Right...Hey, what number am I?"

"#9."

Demyx gave a nod of understanding, silent as he processed this. They walked through the endless-seeming corridoors, the younger man watching the white marble disappearing beneath his feet. He imagined that they were monsters, eating up the ground beneath them, and flexed his toes in an action like teeth chomping. This kept him amused until his foot-monsters tried to take a bite out of black rubber, and he yelped, hopping on one foot. Xaldin turned, one eyebrow twitching slightly upwards. Demyx gave a little half-laugh.

"Uh...didn't realise you'd-Crap!" He broke off, startled, as the floor began to lift. Or, at least, the section he and Xaldin stood on. He had to resist the urge to grab hold of the other man for support as it rose slowly into the air, apparently some sort of elevator, without any visible propulsion, or walls to stop someone toppling to their death off the sides. Instead, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and took deep breaths, trying to pretend he wasn't moving.

"We've stopped." Xaldin's voice betrayed a hint of amusement, and Demyx felt his cheeks warming in embarassment as he let his eyes open slowly. He blinked a few times, then looked around.

"Um..." Funny, it didn't feel natural to him to be stuttering this much. "We're...on an island." And they were, of a fashion. It was simply there. Still. And surrounding it were other islands, discs of floor suspended in midair with no apparent purpose. Xaldin said nothing, but took a step forwards, off of the platform and onto...Demyx wasn't sure what they were. They looked like hexagonal, flattened-out bubbles of blue-green. As the taller man walked, they appeared before his feet from nothing. He turned, realising Demyx wasn't following, and arched an eyebrow slightly. Taking a gulp, the younger man put a tentative foot onto the first "bubble." He gradually increased the pressure, until all of his weight was on it. So far, so good. Now to move the other leg...

Xaldin sighed softly.

"It will take your weight, #9. It's stronger than steel."

Taking a shaky breath, Demyx nodded and put his other foot on the next hexagon. The breath was released slowly. It was safe.

"Come. #2 will probably be waiting for us by now."

Nearly laughing out loud with relief, Demyx followed eagerly.

When they reached the end of the road of bubbles, Demyx gave a little laugh and skipped the last few steps. Xaldin regarded him strangely, but he didn't notice, watching in fascination as the pathway vanished. He poked a toe out and a hexagon appeared beneath it. Withdrawing his foot, he got down on his hands and knees, and put a hand out instead. Sure enough, the bubble reappeared. Curiously, he poked it with a fingertip. It felt like marble. Solid, and cool to the touch.

"Awesome..." he breathed.

Then, footsteps behind him alerted him to the fact that Xaldin had apparently lost patience and taken off. Yelping, Demyx shot up and chased after him.

"Hey! Wait up! I'll get lo-"

"Tell me something, #9." The clipped, terse voice broke through his protests, and Demyx's mouth snapped shut. Xaldin was regarding him, indigo eyes painfully searching. "On the bridge. You were scared."

"Nah!" He gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well, a little. Nervous, really." Xaldin's eyes narrowed slightly, and the younger man's hand came up to run through his hair nervously. "Uh, why'd you ask?"

"Perhaps you are not aware of the Nobody's condition. I would have thought you would notice it before now, but..."

He broke off, pausing to glance inside a room to the side of them.

"Ah. Come in. #2 will be returning shortly."

Demyx followed him into the room. And promptly felt his stomach perform an acrobatic feat to make a dolphin weep in envy. An apparently standard-issue black coat lay discarded in a chair, and bent over the windowsill, clad in tight-fitting black pants, was the loveliest ass he had ever seen. His gaze travelled over shapely hips, down legs that looked just the right amount of muscled, to calves encased in black leather boots, before he tore his eyes away to mutter to Xaldin "who's she?"

The man let out a quickly-stifled snigger, as the form bent over the window started shouting.

"Xiggy, hurry the fuck up before I shut this window on ya!"

NOT a woman's voice. Demyx looked from the window to Xaldin, choking incoherently for the few moments it took Xigbar to get close enough to be helped into the room. As the man with the deceptively feminine hips straightened, Demyx was assaulted by the impression of red. Red hair stuck out from his head in a riot of spikes, swaying slightly with each movement. He turned to face them, leaving Xigbar hanging with one leg over the sill. In a flash, Demyx took in the sight he presented. Lips curved into a little smirk, pale cheeks decorated with upside-down teardrops that could be tattoos as easily as make-up, and green eyes framed by black eyeliner that made them seem all the more intense, narrowed appraisingly at him.

"What the hell is up with your hair?"

Demyx's hands flew up reflexively, his memory telling him vaguely of a dirty blonde mullet-mohawk thing that seemed familiar, even as he retorted "hypocrite."

The other man's face cracked in a wide grin, revealing the tips of pointed fangs.

"I like 'im," he observed to Xigbar, still floundering half-in the window. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Demyx," he replied hesitantly.

"Here we go," Xigbar muttered as he finally hauled himself into the room.

"Mine's Axel. A-X-E-L." He pointed a slender, gloved finger to emphasise each letter. "Got it memorised?"

This last was echoed in perfect synch by Xigbar. The redhead, Axel, turned to fix the one-eyed man with a glare. When he seemed underwhelmed by this, Axel smacked him on the back of the head. Xigbar responded by shoving him in the shoulder. He rocked back a step, then turned and took up a wrestling stance.

"Oh, it is on, cyclops."

"Bring it, you overgrown moomba."

As they rushed each other, Xaldin gave an impatient sigh and turned to leave. Demyx followed, casting one more glance at the strange duo. Xigbar now had Axel in a headlock, and the redhead was tugging on a fistful of his ponytail.

After a few paces, there was a thud, a yell, and Axel emerged from the room, grinning happily, an eyepatch dangling from one hand. As he reached them, Xigbar stumbled out. Half of his hair had fallen loose from his ponytail, and now covered the right side of his face.

"Damnit, bitch. Give me back my patch or I will stick a gun up your ass and shoot until you spit lead."

Axel laughed, waving the patch around. Snarling, Xigbar lunged and was promptly caught by a very large hand around his upper arm.

"Xigbar. If you fight in the corridoors, I will throw you off the lightbridge."

Axel snickered.

"Axel, if you do not give his eyepatch back, I will personally make sure you assist Vexen in the laboratory for a week."

Axel stopped laughing. In fact, his already pale skin blanched and he handed over the patch without another word. Xaldin gave a thin-lipped smile, handing the offending item back to Xigbar, who replaced it. As if forgetting his momentary fear, Axel grinned and nudged Demyx.

"So, how are ya liking Home, Sweet Home?"

"It's...ok, I guess."

"Say, got any memories?"

Demyx shook his head. Then he gave a little frown. Something was there, at the back of his mind...

"Don't push it, kid. It'll come in time." This last was added by Xigbar, who had appeared on Demyx's other side. Axel nodded.

"Yeah. Or, if it doesn't, no big loss."

"Is it normal, then?"

"Memory loss? Yeah. Didn't ol' rastaman explain?"

A few paces ahead, Xaldin's shoulders tensed. Xigbar gave a chuckle.

"Ax, he's gonna hand you over to Vexen with a big bow around you one of these days."

"Psht. Anyway, as I was saying." He turned his attention back to Demyx. "When we're split, into Heartless and Nobodies, all our memories go kaput. Same with our emotions. I reckon they're linked somehow..."

"What?" Demyx came to a complete stop, and the other three paused to regard him.

"Yeah, kid. Hadn't you noticed?" Axel's thin eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"You can't feel, buddy. No heart, ya see." Xigbar chimed in, a hand going to his chest. Demyx brought a hand to his own. No heartbeat answered his searching fingers, and he choked back a sob.

"What...happened to it?"

"Heartless took that part of us with 'em. When a heartless is born inside someone, first thing it feeds on is its host's heart." Axel took a step towards him, reaching out a hand to squeeze his shoulder. Demyx batted it away, gasping for breath.

"But you're wrong! I can still feel!"

"No, Demyx. You may carry some illusions of emotions, but true feelings are denied to us." Xaldin finally spoke up, sympathy written across his face. Or not, if Nobodies couldn't feel.

"Not helping, dude." Xigbar gave him a light whack in the shoulder. "The guy's freaked out. Remember how bad it was for us?"

Xaldin fell silent.

Axel had managed to slip an arm around Demyx's shoulder. "Think about it," he murmured gently, "are you feeling anything right now? Really feeling?"

The blonde shook his head, not in denial but in confusion.

"I...I feel confused. And scared. Why isn't my heart beating? It should be-am I dead?" He turned panic-filled eyes on Axel. "Did I die? Is this...Oh god, I died."

"No!" The redhead shook him lightly. "You're not dead. Just...incomplete."

Demyx made a little strangled noise in the back of his throat, and Axel sighed.

"Aw, crap. I didn't mean it like that. Xig?"

Xigbar shook his head. "Don't look at me, man. I'd send the guy into an episode."

"Damn." Reaching up his free hand to drag it through wild red hair, Axel sighed. "Zexy's good at explaining stuff, right? Without coming off like an insensitive jerkwad?" Here, he gave Xaldin a glare. Ignoring it, the dreadlocked man replied "he'll be in the library."

"Ok, then. C'mon, Dem. You're gonna meet the baby of our little family." Axel pulled him forwards a few steps. Xigbar reached out and slipped his hand through Demyx's free arm.

"Yeah. Zex's quality people. Little bit of a creepy bitch, but he's cool."

Demyx found himself trembling.


And it is done. It was kinda hard, writing for Demyx without making him a total spazzface. Demyx is capable of depth! Really!