Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor any of its characters.

Identity was always a problem for the nobodies. Of course, the first six never gave it much of a second thought; they had anticipated the possibility of becoming a nobody long before the fateful night that Radiant Garden fell into darkness. It had been Xemnas, then Xehanort's idea to change their names. He named himself Xemnas, taking on the name of their old master. Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo all agreed readily and came up with their own names. It took longer for Isa and Lea to let go.

While Isa and Lea were still sulking in the corners around the new world the nobodies had found themselves in, Xemnas was starting to organize things. The dark city had to have some place for them to inhabit, so they moved slowly through the world's winding alleys. Heartless prowled every shadowy corner, and confrontations between them and the nobody were a frequent problem. Xemnas decided they needed to rank themselves, to form order. The six apprentices immediately agreed that Xemnas would lead, and he numbered the rest of the members. Everyone was surprised when the usually laid-back Xigbar was chosen as the second rank. Being both strong and rather intelligent, nobody contested when he then ranked Xaldin third. Vexen followed as fourth rank. Naturally, Lexaeus was the fifth rank, as Zexion was but nine years old, and despite his incredible intelligence, it would feel odd to most of them for him to be put before any of the other members.

Except, of course, for Isa and Lea. No one had meant for them to get caught up in the apprentice's endeavors. None of the apprentices knew what the two had been doing, sneaking around the castle the night of darkness, but since the eight of them fell to darkness and came upon this dark world, Lea and Isa had tagged along, not quite part of the group and yet unable to leave at the same time. None of them really knew for sure where they were or what was going on, and they especially didn't know what was going to happen to them.

Finally, a week after the rest of the organization had changed their names and gained rank, Isa and Lea being ignored through the whole process, Zexion fell behind the group as they moved through the metropolitan world, and looked over the two bedraggled teens, then tilted his head and asked "What are you two's new names?"

Isa and Lea looked at each other for a moment, and then Isa just shrugged. Lea sighed. "We haven't come up with any new ones, yet."

Zexion tilted his head, his gaze curious. "Is that why Xemnas hasn't ranked you yet?" Lea just shrugged, so Zexion continued. "You should think of new ones so you can be part of the organization of us Nobodies."

With that, Zexion caught back up to the main group, holding onto Lexaeus' sleeve. Isa and Lea looked at each other for a moment before looking down again, Lea sighing softly. As the group camped down for the night, Lea and Isa a little ways off as usual, Lea finally spoke up.

"We don't have anywhere else to go. We don't even know what we are anymore.. we might as well try and fit in the group."

Isa sighed but nodded. "It would be nice if they considered us." He glanced over at where the six apprentices were settling down. The apprentices hadn't even bothered to explain what nobodies, which they now called themselves, were, or the heartless that kept pounding after them in this bleak, desolate world.

"We should ask someone for more info while everyone's awake and not moving," Lea decided. He stood up, suddenly determined, and walked over to where Zexion sitting, next to Vexen. "Hey, Vexen."

The man looked up at the teen, surprised but not showing that through his icy calm. "Yes, what do you want?"

"Well, no one's explained to the two of us," Lea gestured towards Isa and himself. "What nobodies are. Or what on earth is going on. We don't know all this crazy stuff, unlike you guys. Nothing feels the same right now and I want to know why."

"Ah," Vexen nodded his head slowly. "Well, the night we were all taken from our home world to this world, a large amount of heartless were released to Radiant Garden, and the world fell into darkness. Heartless are the manifestation of a heart fallen into darkness, and they live only to tear out the hearts of others.

"When a particularly strong person's heart gets taken by the heartless, their heart becoming a heartless itself, their strength allows the empty shell of the body to remain. This remaining body we named a Nobody. The nobody usually lacks much sense, but does have some degree of free will. Weaker nobodies also have the tendency to attack the living with hearts relentlessly, seeking a heart of their own. It appears we are an even higher order of nobody, one who retains all of its free will, and lacks only his heart."

Isa's expression didn't change, and as much as Lea felt like he should have been panicked or shocked by such an explanation, he could not feel any emotion that felt truly legitimate. "So," Lea started. "We don't have hearts? How does that.. change things." His voice sounded oddly flat, and he frowned slightly.

"Well, it seems we have very little metabolism, considering the only slight hunger everyone has been feeling around here. The main noticeable difference due to a lack of heart is, of course, a lack of emotion. Even without this explanation surely you've noticed that you don't react emotionally anymore? Except what is based off past memory."

Lea rubbed the back of his head, looking up at the sky. "Hm.. I thought I was just in shock." He shook his head and looked back down at the ground. "Well, that certainly changes things."

"Deal with it however you want, I expect most people will be pretending to retain emotion, for their own sakes." Vexen rolled his eyes and lay back on the ground. "Now leave me alone."

Lea and Isa walked slowly back to where they were going to sleep, both lost in thought. After sitting in silence for a while, Isa spoke up. "Well, now I suppose it makes sense to change our names."

"I suppose so," Lea nodded in agreement. "We aren't exactly the same people anymore, are we." It wasn't a question.

Isa nodded. "What do you want to be?"

Lea looked up, smirking a bit. "Hm... Lea plus an 'x'... Leax? Man, that sounds stupid."

Isa nodded, still straight faced. Lea forced himself to chuckle.

"Lexa... man, that sounds way too girly... Alex? Too normal. ..Wait, I've got it. Axel. I'm totally gonna be Axel."

Isa raised his eyebrows. "Sounds rather eccentric and annoying. Perfect."

Axel smirked. "Well, let's see you come up with something!"

Isa was not so much for thinking out loud as Axel was. He sat in silence for a while before he finally spoke. "Saix."

"Saix, huh? I like it," Axel grinned. "Well, hello Saix, I'm Axel."

"Delighted to meet you." Saix commented with a sarcastic edge, lying down. "Now let's get to sleep."

"Fine, fine," Axel sighed, lying down next to him. "Spoilsport."

-

Axel had the same dream again.

He and Isa grinned at each other as they dropped from the air ducts into the lab. They had finally gotten all the way in. They'd been trying to sneak into the castle, curious about the rumors of dark experiments going on in the basement. The two exchanged a high-five, the Isa cringed at the echoing noise it made.

They both froze, waiting for a reaction.

Then, they heard the tumult. It almost sounded as if someone had yelled for help, and they could definitely hear feet running. Too many feet running. And was it just Lea, or was there darkness seeping from down the hall?

Without thinking, Lea rushed towards the darkness. He came upon the apprentices, and... what he could only describe as a writhing mass of darkness. Round, yellow eyes stared up at him, and before he could think, claws tore at his legs. Something jumped on him. He called for Isa, turning to look back down the hall as he fell over, the claws ripping into him, and the last thing he saw before the world went black was the darkness spreading, swarming beyond them, and a pair of frightened blue eyes meeting his bright green eyes. "Isa!-"

-

Axel was prodded awake again. Saix was looking at him, his expression blank where previous mornings they had shone with concern. Axel didn't mind. "Same dream," he muttered, sitting up. The apprentices were already up, looking at the two teens expectantly as they slowly drug themselves to their feet.

There was a short silence as the two groups stared at each other, six calm, disapproving gazes meeting the two teen's defensive glares. Finally, before they turned wordlessly to head out as usual, Zexion spoke up. "What are those two's ranks?"

Xemnas paused, looking over the two teens. Axel looked away, while Saix calmly met the superior's face. "Have you two yet changed your names?" The question finally came from Xemnas.

"Yes," Saix spoke clearly, no trace of emotion on his features. "I am Saix, and this is Axel."

Axel only gave a small nod, frowning some.

There was a pause, and then "Very well." Xemnas gave the two one more look, and then concluded. "Saix, you are number Seven. Axel will be number Eight."

And with that, he turned and started to head out, trying to find their ways around the winding valleys of the dark world.

-

Author's Note:

Well. I'm back in fanfic biz! So this is basically a short series I've made out of boredom in class and various ideas bouncing through my head. It's going to be just walking through the beginning of the organization, from mostly Axel's perspective. I don't know for sure when I'm going to be ending it, so just stay tuned for updates, and thanks for reading!

Please do review, I have not written in a while and I'm not totally confident on my ability.