No. X – Luxord
He wasn't a morning person at all; he refused to wake up from his soft, comfortable slumber. Through his eyelids, he could see the sunlight. He turned over in his bed so he could remain in the darkness. He was conscious, even if he didn't want to believe it or not. Then, his mind started to think for itself.
How in the world did he end up in a bed of all places?
He opened his eyes and looked around. He had never been in this room before, and it definitely didn't look like one of the casino's suites.
He started to recall everything as he sat himself at the edge of the bed; the covers still carefully tucked under the mattress.
There was a strange man with a bent back and brown-hooded robes who had visited the Starlight Casino the night before, or at least that's what Durlo figured at the moment. He didn't communicate with anyone, but seemed to inspect everything. Durlo, who saw the man as fresh meat, approached the shady man and offered a game of blackjack.
The odd thing was that the man's face couldn't be seen at all, so it kind of made Durlo suspicious, though it didn't stop him from trying to get munny from the guy. The man was hesitant at first, but he accepted the challenge. Durlo took him outside to the lounging tables and took out his deck. The winner had to have the best two out of three. The funny thing is that Durlo underestimated the stranger, who somehow ended up with 21 in his first two turns.
Durlo offered that he'd give the stranger anything he wanted. The man, out of nowhere, asked for his heart. Being a man of games and his word, he accepted.
Now he was in some strange building. Everything seemed a tad less glamorous than the casino rooms. The window where sunlight was coming through was diamond-shaped.
He got up from the bed and noticed how small the room was. In the corner was the entrance to the bathroom and the entrance door itself was across from it. The place must've been an inn or something.
Durlo had no clothes, but he did find a blue robe in the closet. He put it on and began to tie the waist cord until the entrance door opened. An old frail lady with a young man and woman behind her came in.
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He was kicked out of the inn, but was given some hand-me-down tux trousers. Walking barefoot and bare-chested, he navigated the brick streets of what seemed to be an old-fashioned city with olden shops and other buildings. The sky was purple, so it must've been nightfall.
He wondered how he came to this place to begin with and how he ended up at the inn. That, in turn, led him to think about the young man and woman. They were most likely a couple.
He then began to feel a ting of lack within him. The feelings of thinking of the couple seemed to have been "deflected". This made him feel shallow, so he started to think about his friends back at the casino, but again, the hollowness overwhelmed the feelings.
Durlo made his way to a boardwalk, holding his chest. He sat down on a bench and pondered about what happened to him. The feeling he was having was unsettling. Whatever had made him feel emotions from remembering things was either gone or dead. The thought of it couldn't leave his mind at all ever since he began to think about it.
"Hey!"
Durlo heard a man call out. He turned around and saw two hooded men in black coats. One was running up to him while the other was just standing at the steps.
He got up and faced them. The running one stopped in front of him.
"Ahh," said the coated man. It was he who called out to Durlo. "Finally, a recruit that's not some young troublemaker!"
The man removed his hood, revealing a scared up face. He had one piercing yellow eye; the other side of his face had an eye patch. His graying hair was streaked down behind his head.
"Who are you?" asked Durlo.
The man snickered raspy tone. "My name is Xigbar. Number Two of the Organization you'll be joining soon."
"What? What do you mean?" Durlo began not to like this character.
"We are Nobodies," said a new voice. The man who had stayed behind at the steps was now walking towards the two men. He removed his hood. Blue hair dropped down on his shoulders and his eyes were yellow like Xigbar's. There was a scar shaped like an X on his face.
"Nobodies huh? Well yeah, you guys are really nobodies. So bug off," said Durlo.
Xigbar was about to curse at Durlo, but the blue-haired man spoke first.
"We are non-existent ones, such as yourself. Non-existent beings are labeled as Nobodies."
Durlo didn't understand. The blue-haired man explained some more.
"It's an awkward concept to grasp completely, and even if you understand it, you may not want to. Being a Nobody means you're not a human anymore. That odd feeling you have when you try to remember past family and friends is caused by the lack of heart."
Durlo rubbed his chin in thought. He noticed he had a stub of a beard.
"Also, when you're a Nobody such as yourself, you retain the shape of your human body. It just has minor changes."
Curious about how he looked now, Durlo went to the edge of the boardwalk and looked down at his reflection in the glimmering water.
His hair was a pale blond where it was red. His eyes were still blue however. He now had a moustache and the beard he felt as well. Other than that, just as the blue-haired man said, minor change.
Xigbar spoke up. "Eh, you'll get used to it. I used to be quite the looker!"
Durlo was ignoring the smaller man. He questioned the other. "So about this emptiness…"
"That is why the Organization exists," he answered before Durlo could even finish. "Join us. We are researchers of the heart. Soon, we will be able to regain a heart so we can be complete again."
"But why should I join you? I've been through lots of things in my life. I can surely get used to this."
The blue-haired man curled his stoic lips into a smile. "What life? Your life began once you woke up within this in-between world called Duskburg. The human whose memories you have is gone now. His heart has been willingly taken by the darkness." He pointed at Durlo. "You are made up of the hollow body and soul, nothing more. As much as you try to excuse the fact that you lack a heart, you'll still desire one. That is why you must join us or you'll live a miserable existence."
He began to think deeply about this. He wasn't human anymore, but yet he had the memories of the casino, his home. The man whom he had gambled with really did take his heart…or rather, Durlo's heart. But this was all too much. It seemed made up to him. A bluff.
…But then again, that feeling inside of him invoked a strange sense of curiosity within him. What if there was a way he could regain a heart? The emptiness would be gone.
"Oh, I can tell from your look. You're curious about something," said Xigbar. He put his hands on his hips.
"So this Organization…it'll help me with finding a heart?" asked the Nobody.
Both the members nodded.
He didn't have anything to lose.
"I'm in then."
"Great. Number Ten of the Organization, what was your human name?" asked Xigbar.
"Durlo."
"Now, add the letter of X for soon we wont be Nobodies anymore."
The recruit rearranged the letters of the name of the long-gone human. His name would be Luxord until he regained completeness.