Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any material related to Square Enix in any way or form. Neither do I own the fabulous tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" or anything related to Shakespeare.

Note: Heartless and Nobody motivations may be different from the series' portrayal.

Zexion did not appreciate it when the other Organization members would disturb his carefully categorized library, and he would 'hate' them even more for taking away his one and only living friend, if he had a heart to hate with. Instead, the Schemer retreated to the confines of his chamber room after witnessing Axel take Caxebrec away, waving his hand to seal the portal until he deemed to exit.

His chamber was a rather modest one by comparison to the other members. Like the rest of the Organization, Zexion's room was built of pure white marble, with tall glass windows allowing rather too much light from Kingdom Hearts to flood into the room. To counter this, Zexion had curtains darker than the blackest night frame the windows, which he pulled closed to darken his room upon entry. Black sheets were drawn up orderly on a queen-sized bed in one corner of the room, with a desk five feet away at the foot of it. If the curtains weren't drawn, the desk would be lit with the light from the heart-shaped moon lingering in the sky. The rest of the walls were lined with enormous bookshelves, tall, sturdy ladders placed here and there to reach the upper levels.

Zexion walked to the desk, where a small pile of books lay, and opened one. This particular book happened to be the only one of its kind in his library, something he didn't remember ever picking up. But nevertheless, it was a book, and he would never throw it away. Turning to the first page, he ran a gloved finger over the single, gold-embossed word: Fairytales. The first time he had come across the book was during the second day of his membership in the Organization. He had found himself very puzzled; where had it come from? How had it managed to get into his library, the very one he locked with illusion and trickery? But by whatever means, the book was part of his library, and Zexion had come to enjoy one fairytale in particular. He would never allow any mentioning of the book to the rest of the Organization though, for they would surely think him insane afterward.

The plot followed a pair of lovers, both from rival families with a blood feud extending centuries into the past. Each family wanted to massacre the other, and both servants and leaders alike attempted to slay each other. The main male character was exiled for supposedly murdering his lover's cousin, and in her turn, the young woman found a way to make herself appear dead, for fear of marrying a man she loathed. But this plan apparently backfired, much to Zexion's 'amusement', and both lovers ended up dead.

Needless to say, it was certainly a way to pass the time reading the tragedy, and the Schemer needed to calm himself from Caxebrec's mild betrayal.

About an hour and half later, Zexion was halfway through an amusing scene where the young woman's father nearly disowns her for her voiced disdain for her betrothed, when there was a small flash of light at his chamber portal. The Schemer looked up, knowing that someone was on the other side, trying to get in. He assumed it was Demyx, come to request more paper to write his newest song for his sitar. Stowing the book away in a drawer, he waved his hand, lifting the seal on the portal.

"Enter," he said. There was no flash of light, as he expected. Instead, darkness appeared where a faint blue had been, and two hooded figures appeared, one tall, the other short, carrying a third who was visibly unconscious. A viscous blue substance was slowly dripping from an arm that hung down the side of the person's body. Zexion's eyes betrayed no recognition, though he knew exactly who the entity was.

"We found the Heartless trying to finish her off," came Roxas' voice, heavy with worry and concern. The other man pulled his hood off, being careful not to drop the slight figure in his arms.

"Zexion, Xemnas and Saïx are gone, and Marluxia's no help. You have to help her," Demyx pleaded, cerulean eyes wide with 'fear'. The Cloaked Schemer gazed at the pair impassively for a moment, before swiftly crossing the room. He pulled harshly on both young men's sleeves, yanking them through his chamber portal.

"We've lost too many members already. We'll take her down to the laboratories."

--

Caxebrec couldn't return to the castle. She didn't want to be anywhere near the other Nobodies, especially Axel, who might have already returned from Twilight Town. So she did the next best thing, what Roxas did every night: she wandered around the Dark City. It was raining, and the dark, clouded sky seemed more ominous than ever as the Icy Technician turned corner after corner, watching the glowing eyes of Heartless as they observed her hungrily from the shadows, knowing that, because she had no heart, they could not gain sustenance from her. But that didn't stop their minds from wanting to kill her.

Contrary to the popular belief, Heartless and Nobodies only cooperated together because they all had the same goal: to find their other half and become a Somebody. The only reason both had allied themselves with the Organization was because they were able to travel to different worlds, hoping to find 'completion'. None ever found it — even the ones who were able to combine into a full body — because the minds of Heartless and Nobodies alike were so deteriorated that they could never truly recall the fullness a heart brought to their 'lives'.

Caxebrec could sense the 'bloodlust' around her, but she did not 'fear', for she would be leading many of these same denizens of darkness on a raid of some world the next day, and they would get their fill of stealing hearts. Abruptly, she stepped out into an alley blocked by a truck that had crashed long ago, possibly one that the first six Organization members had driven through the streets of the nothing-world in a vain attempt to find some place to 'live'.

Azure eyes gazed upward, at the back of the tallest building in the city: Memory's Skyscraper. She tilted her head, considering; she had never been to the top, where — Roxas had told her — you could see to the other edge of the drop-off that the Organization's castle was suspended over. Exhaustion took over her as she gazed at the metal ladder hanging five feet above her head, but a sudden thought came to her, one that spurred her to leap, fingers grasping the first rung, and flip herself backward so she caught the third, feet catching on the first metal bar. Swiftly, she began to ascend, all the while squinting against the ceaseless rain pelting her face. The wind began to howl in her ears, threatening to deafen the young woman as she grasped rung after rung, pulling herself upward until at last, she hauled herself over the edge and onto the roof.

Just as Roxas had said, she could, indeed, see the other side of the massive pit. Other than that, the view was quite ordinary, nothing particularly different from the view from her room in the castle. Gazing up at the suspended structure, Caxebrec's eyes faded to a faint shimmering viridian, as she sat down on a small vent that protruded from the skyscraper's roof.

"What are we really doing?" she asked herself, gaze dropping to her gloved hands. "Why must we steal hearts, kill people, destroy lives… just to live a fucking twisted existence that can't even be called living?" There was no answer, either from her nonexistent heart or from the surrounding darkness. Caxebrec stood, eyes gradually turning an intense blood red that made the Heartless nearby scuttle away like ants when they've lost their scent-trail.

The Technician felt 'hatred' welling up from the pit of her stomach, an unfamiliar 'feeling' that flooded her veins as she gazed down into the wide courtyard at the foot of the skyscraper. Caxebrec frowned as she saw Heartless and Nobodies spawning there, too many for what could be called an 'attendant-troupe'. Abruptly, she felt the air change around her; it was heavily laden with murderous intent, and Caxebrec whirled around to find roughly four dozen Neoshadows poised to attack her. The crimson coloring in her irises faded to a deathly shade of navy as she recognized what they were after.

"You want to kill me?" she murmured, gazing around at the anxiously shifting forms. Her lips curled into a small, wry smile. "You want to kill me for doubting myself, right? Well then…" She raised her arms, and two bars of pure white light appeared at her side and on her back. Caxebrec threw back her hood, letting the rain soak through her hair as she grasped one end of both bars, drawing them to reveal silver blades that flashed in the moonlight. Her feet slid easily into a fighting stance, her right hand holding a blade at her side, the other blade resting across her shoulder blades. Eyes like the purest silver pierced the night as Caxebrec gazed at the Heartless before her. They crouched, ready to spring, and she chuckled, her voice full of venom as she whispered,

"Come and get me."

--

"Where did you find her?" Zexion asked, his hands preoccupied with a regulation plug on an intravenous beside the young woman's bed. Roxas and Demyx exchanged glances.

"… At Memory's Skyscraper," Roxas murmured, reaching for a roll of gauze the Schemer had gestured at.

"We saw her-" Demyx swallowed hard, "We saw her leap off the roof, followed by some Neoshadows. It looked like- like they were trying to kill her…"

"We cannot die in the sense you are using the term, IX," the Schemer replied bluntly, cerulean eyes focused on inputting data in a small computer at the foot of Caxebrec's bed. He stopped abruptly, turning to the two young men beside him, an unexpected flash of what looked like 'anger' in his eyes.

"Did you see anyone else there? Axel, perhaps?"

"No. We didn't see anyone…" Demyx trailed off, gazing 'worriedly' at the unconscious young woman. She was dressed in infirmary garb, a few bandages and gauze wrapped around her arms and neck. Luckily, Zexion had already managed to stem the flow of sapphire-colored blood1 on the way down to the laboratory. But the Melodious Nocturne couldn't help but exchange a glance with Roxas when they saw how pallid the Technician's face had become.

"She will need to stay here for two days at the very least," Zexion muttered, returning to his normal demeanor as he checked over some tools lying in a tray on a table nearby. "Do not disturb her before that. I will attend to this." With that, the Schemer waved them away, Roxas turning away silently, pulling a very reluctant Demyx with him.

"Zexion!" The silvery-blue-haired man looked up, gaze piercing as he waited for the Nocturne's next outburst.

"… Can I visit her?" Zexion held Demyx' gaze for a long time before the blonde had to look away. The Cloaked Schemer's eyes hardened as he murmured,

"Two days."

1) The explanation for Caxebrec's blue blood is apparently an actual fact. I asked a chemistry professor about it. Blood does not circulate when the heart does not beat (or is not there, as the case may be), and it is blue when it does not carry oxygen. Therefore, my assumption is that Nobodies' blood must be blue, though they can still breathe. Their blood would most likely be red, or a type of red near their lungs where oxygen would be transferred to the cells.