#033- Too Much

By Any Other Name

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Much like Xemnas, I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

AN: Sorry for the really long pause in this. Life, y'know. I know I promised to do a serious fic, but with the huge gap I felt I needed to do another humorous one to get myself back in the spirit.

Water softly crashed upon the shore of the Dark Margin. It was peaceful in a strange way, which could explain why a young man reclined on the rocks playing a sitar in contentment. Just then, a dark portal opened behind him and three hooded figures in black coats stepped out. The young man didn't seem to notice their arrival, or perhaps he just didn't care.

One of the figures walked forward, the others following closely behind. They stopped a few yards away from the person playing the sitar, but he still didn't seem to acknowledge their presence.

"This is the one?" the first figured asked, his voice sounding calm.

"Yep," one of the people standing behind him replied. "The guy's just been sitting here for a while making all that noise."

"We have reports that he definitely shows signs of being a candidate to join our numbers, however," the other added.

The front figure lowered his hood, revealing his long silver hair and gold colored eyes. He studied the young man for a few moments silently while he kept playing as though he were oblivious to their arrival. "Approach him," Xemnas said, and the other two continued walking ahead until they were just next to the rocks.

Xigbar was the next to reveal his face. "Done with your song yet, rock star?" he asked.

The musician finally stopped playing and looked at them with a small grin. "You guys aren't much of an audience," he replied.

"We didn't come here for a concert, kid," Xigbar said. "Tell them that story you told me before."

He frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, it's kind of boring. One minute I was jamming out on my sitar, next thing I knew I was surround by a bunch of creatures and darkness and stuff. I guess I passed out or something cause the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Is that all that happened?" the one that remained concealed under his hood asked.

"Pretty much. I can do some awesome stuff with my sitar now, though!" To demonstrate, he made it disappear and reappear, but apparently that was all he wanted to show off.

Xemnas scowled a bit. "You haven't noticed any other changes? Any... emptiness inside yourself?"

He had to think about this for a while apparently, scratching his head. "Maybe? Trying to think about everything that happened starts to make my brain hurt so I've just been practicing."

"...Do you really think this one fits all of our credentials?" the third member asked.

Xigbar chuckled a bit and shrugged. "He's got a normal-looking body and a memory. That's what we're supposed to be looking for."

"Perhaps we should reconsider our terms," the other replied. "I cannot see how a musician would aid us in our cause."

"Oh yeah!" the young man suddenly exclaimed. "This is kinda cool!" He played a few chords and the water near them suddenly rose as a horizontal pillar and moved quickly through the air, crashing into the people standing before him. "That would make my act awesome, right?"

Xigbar and his companion had managed to stand their ground, though they were now completely soaked and looked very displeased about this. Xemnas seemed to have avoided the spray entirely somehow, his expression becoming a small grin.

Peeling his wet hood off his head, Zexion tried to shake the water out of his hair before responding in annoyance. "I take back my previous comments."

"Sheesh, I didn't come here to take a bath," Xigbar mumbled.

Xemnas finally stepped forward, looking over the prospect again before speaking. "It seems you are fit to become a member of our organization."

"...Huh?"

"Should you accept the offer, we will fully explain your situation, your duties, and our goals," Zexion added, though at this point it seemed more like a practiced response than an actual interested offer.

"Woah, woah, wait a minute!" he exclaimed, looking slightly horrified. "Are you saying you want me to work for you? I am totally not the guy you're looking for!"

"Suit yourself," Xigbar replied. "You can just sit here until either the darkness or the Heartless get a hold of you and destroy you."

He frowned, taking a few moments to answer. "Those are my only choices? Lame... I get to keep my sitar if I go with you guys, right?"

"Yes," Zexion said, though he didn't sound very pleased.

Though he didn't seem happy about it, he replied with a "Sure."

"And now, a new name," Xemnas said in the same smug tone almost as if no one else had been talking. "One that will suit the new you."

"What's wrong with my name?"

"Now that you are a Nobody and are joining our numbers, it is important to put your past life behind you," Zexion said. "The easiest method is to rearrange your name while including an 'X'."

"A what? And you mean I have to make something up?" he whined.

"What, it's hard?" Xigbar said with a laugh. "I know who not to go to when some thinking needs to be done."

"For example, my former self was called Ienzo. Now my name is Zexion," he said, his tone clearly showing that he only offered this information because he just wanted this to be over with. "What was your name?"

He frown with uncertainty before replying. "Demy."

"You're only using five letters. Your options are limited, so it isn't that hard."

Demy sighed and hung his head, remaining silent for a few moments. Suddenly, he snapped back to an upright position, grinning. "Okay, I'm Demyx then!"

There was a long pause as the other three frowned at him.

"What was that?" Xemnas asked coldly.

"You said I just needed my name and an 'X'."

"But that isn't..." Zexion began.

"Demyx totally works!" he interrupted, still smiling confidently.

"Tch, talk about the easy way out..." Xigbar said half to himself.

Xemnas scowled for a few moments before closing his eyes. "Fine. Demyx, you are the ninth member of our organization." He sounded rather displeased as he spoke his "new" name.

"...So then I won't have too much work to do, right?" Demyx asked.

Xemnas merely turned away and began walking back toward where the portal had first formed. Xigbar followed him, leaving a very displeased Zexion to deal with the new recruit.

"Xigbar."

"Yes, Superior?" he replied, putting a slightly sarcastic emphasis on the final word.

"From this point onward, I will naming any new members."

Xigbar shrugged as the portal opened in front of them again, though the expression on his face clearly showed that he was amused by this. "Suit yourself."