* = Author's Note – please see bottom of chapter for explanation.

=13=

*The constant tapping of keys upon the keyboard in the room filled the Nobody's ears as he entered the laboratory; this was always the tell-tale sign that the person he was looking for was right where he needed to be.

"Vexen."

The blonde rolled his eyes upon hearing his name. Didn't the others know by now that he hated being disturbed whilst he was working in his lab? He gave a well-defined sigh, exaggerating it slightly in an effort to convey his displeasure, and then turned around and leaned against the desk he had previously been typing upon.

"What? Apparently, my work here isn't very important- at least, that's what it seems like whenever I'm disturbed."

Emerald eyes followed the blue-haired man as he wandered aimlessly about in the laboratory, watching as he examined various objects and utensils that they had used upon caring after their newest member within the Organization. Zexion eventually stopped in front of the large screen that still held (Name)'s vital information, and he hummed softly to himself.

"Surely you've come into my lab to do more than wander about aimlessly, yes? Or might I have to begin worrying about your level of mental health, Zexion?"

"Hmm… you say that as if you have the capacity or capability to worry, Vexen. You are correct in the assumption that I have other business in coming here- in fact, it has something to do with (Name)."

Vexen's eyebrow cocked slightly at the mention of their newest member; what on earth could be the issue with her? She had only just joined the previous day.

"(Name)? What on earth are you talking about, Zexion?"

"Xemnas never told us where he found her. When the six founding members of Organization XIII awoke, we all awoke in Twilight Town, yes? That, as you are surely aware of by now, is the birthplace of all Nobodies that possess a human form.* We are all reborn in the same place, and are able to be conscious within minutes. However, it took (Name) several days to awaken, and we had to constantly monitor her. Our naming ceremony was also held in front of the manor gates, whereas (Name)'s was held here within the castle."

"Yes… and your point is? Surely you aren't accusing our Lord of some heinous, false acts against the Organization that he himself founded with the five of us, are you? How could Lord Xemnas hold the naming ceremony if (Name) was not conscious to witness it? And, I believe just yesterday I mentioned something about how Nobodies seem to awaken at varying intervals upon examining (Name) for the last time, Zexion."

Zexion, knowing that Vexen held a valid point, held his tongue and instead turned his attention to a number in the lower right area of the monitoring screen, and then turned to face the blonde on the opposite end of the room.

"Vexen, you have all the vital information of the rest of us, don't you?"

"Of course. You act as though I'm irresponsible with my data collection responsibilities."

"Bring up the rest of the members."

Once again, the blonde rolled his eyes and gave a quiet sigh before doing what his associate had asked of him. He had to shift through various folders and files of information, but he eventually pulled up the rest of the information on the same screen, save Xemnas, since he refused to give any vital information to the scientist upon the founding of the Organization. Once the information had been pulled up upon the screen, Zexion began to carefully examine each and every one of them; not to his surprise, the number that he had seen upon (Name)'s data was much larger than the numbers upon the other member's data charts.

"Vexen, what is this number?"

Vexen raised his hand as he began to answer, and then stopped as a rather perplexed look came upon his face. Come to think of it, he was never told what that number in particular meant, so he honestly was incapable of answering the question that Zexion had asked him.

"As much as I'd like to avoid seeming like an imbecile, I'm afraid I don't know what that number means. Now that you mention it, I'd like to know what this number is, and why (Name)'s is so large in comparison to the rest of ours."

"As do I, Vexen… as do I."

=13=

You awoke to the same room that you had fallen asleep in the previous day- the walls were still the same, dullish grey color, and there was nothing more than the bed in the room to greet you as you awoke. You brought yourself into an upright position, gently throwing the blanket off of you before shifting yourself to move off the bed and rise to your feet. No sooner had you done this did the door to your room open, revealing the same man that was assigned to be your mentor the previous day.

"Ah, it would seem you're awake. Good. I brought you something."

You watched as he brought a black cloak from his side to in front of him, and your eyes quickly scanned over the object within his hands. He walked forward, his gloved hand undoing the zipped on the front of the cloak as he did so.

"You can't keep going around in that medical robe you've been wearing since you arrived here, (Name). Especially now that you're part of our Organization. Every member has a unique robe fitting of their stature and physique, and you're no exception."

He held out the robe to you, and you stared at it for a moment before looking up at him. He gave a soft sigh, then used his free hand to turn you around in front of him.

"I tend to forget that you're not used to such things yet. I shall help you dress this one time, (Name). After this, it's up to you to do such things yourself."

You felt the string that had been holding the medical gear to your body become undone, and the fabric slipped off your body and onto the floor. You were already wearing proper undergarments, so that wasn't an issue, but you instinctively brought your arm over your chest even though you were turned away from the man. This action seemed to catch Zexion's attention, and he cocked his eyebrow slightly as he brought the cloak over your shoulders.

"Interesting. I must wonder why you did that, (Name). It's not like we have the ability to feel such embarrassment."

He continued to dress you, bringing each arm into its proper sleeve before moving himself in front of you and beginning to zip up the front of your cloak.

"It just… happened…"

Zexion immediately stopped what he was doing, his cerulean-blue eyes staring directly at you. Those were the first words you had spoken since you had awoken the previous day, so it was only natural that it would pique his curiosity.

"Good, you're remembering how to speak. That will come in handy today- you and I are going out to discover what ability you possess."

"Ability…?"

"Yes, (Name). Each one of us in the Organization is gifted with special abilities to use in combat. For example, Vexen, the blonde-haired man you met yesterday, uses the power of ice in combat in various ways."

This new information took a while to settle within your mind, but then again, that was happening a lot with everything lately. You knew the basics of things, but it had taken you until just now to figure out how to speak. You kept trying to remember things before you had awoken in this strange place, but you found yourself unable to do so no matter how hard you tried. Perhaps Zexion could tell you why that was when the two of you went out to train today. You felt Zexion's finger brush against the underside of your chin as he finished zipping up your cloak, and he hummed quietly before moving away from you.

"There. Now, sit on the bed."

You listened without hesitation, bringing yourself to sit upon the edge of your bed. You watched him drop down to his knees, and he placed a pair of boots onto the ground beside him. You assumed he had brought them in with the cloak, but you hadn't seen them before now. He lifted your right leg, shifted the bottom of your cloak slightly out of the way, and then slid the boot upon your foot. He zipped up the side, securing it in place, and then proceeded to do the same procedure to your left foot.

"There. Now you look like a true member of our Organization. We mustn't waste any time, however. Come along."

You brought yourself to your feet, getting used to the feeling of the heeled boots you were now wearing upon them. Your attention turned to a large, oval-like void that had appeared within the room, and you had to admit, it looked rather intimidating. However, you saw your mentor walking towards it, so you did the same thing.

"Zex…ion."

"Correct, (Name). You pronounced it efficiently. What is it?"

"Where… are we going?"

"Ah, yes. This is the first thing I should teach you- this portal that I have summoned acts as a means of transportation for us Nobodies between the endless worlds of the cosmos. Each one of us has the ability to summon such a portal at any given time, and you shall learn how to do it in time."

As much as you wanted to say you understood what he was saying, in truth, you were still rather clueless. He had said "us Nobodies"- what did that mean exactly? However, you decided that it would be best to leave that question for later, and followed him within the dark void.

=13=

When you and your mentor exited the corridor of darkness, you nearly lost your balance due to the ground beneath your feet shifting unexpectedly. Had it not been for Zexion, who grabbed your shoulder in an effort to keep you stable, you would have ended up face first upon the ground. Once you were able to keep your balance on your own, you looked down at the culprit that had nearly bested you: sand. You shifted your foot slightly, watching the grainy substance fall right back under your feet to fill the area you had moved your foot to.

"Come now, (Name). We have training to do. This is one of the areas I have a habit of coming to whenever I wish to train myself, simply because it's rather quiet and easy to concentrate."

As much as you wished to keep looking around, the best you could do was give a quick glance to the area surrounding the both of you. To your front, a very large body of water that seemingly never-ended; behind you, there were several large trees, a dock, several small boats, ladders and winding walkways suspended within the air, a small pool of water with more constantly rushing in from above, and to the very back, a small, dark cavern covered by several bushes.

"This is an island, (Name). This is where you and I will come if you ever wish to train further after this. Now, you are subconsciously attuned to whatever weapon you will use in the field, so, think very hard about needing your weapon, and it shall come to you."

You took Zexion's words into consideration, and closed your eyes in an attempt to further concentrate. You expected something to appear within your grasp, but nothing of the sort happened. There was, however, a rather interesting sound beginning to happen around you. You attempted to pay it no heed, and instead increased your concentration on attempting to summon whatever weapon you somehow possessed, according to Zexion.

Zexion, however, was focused on something that had every ounce of his attention at the time. Whilst you were busy concentrating on materializing your weapon, the trees in the surrounding area had begun to wither and rot at a rapidly increasing rate. That, unbeknownst to you, was the noise that you had begun to hear whilst you were concentrating. Turning to the sea, Zexion took notice that several of the inhabitants, such as fish and a few crabs, were now void of anything that resembled life.

"Impossible…"

You felt Zexion grab your shoulders, and that brought you out of your deep concentration. You stared at him, wondering what it was that made him stop you.

"(Name)… I need you to do something for me. I am testing a hypothesis currently. Close your eyes, and will that the Heartless that have previously been felled here return to life."

You found this task to be rather interesting, but you went ahead and followed your mentor's instructions. Once more, you closed your eyes, and thought about bringing these "Heartless" back to life. Zexion watched carefully, and sure enough, several dark puddles began to materialize on the sand in the surrounding area. He watched as mangled Heartless emerged from these puddles, and then hastily shook your shoulders to bring you out of your concentration.

"(Name), look at what you've done."

You looked around, seeing the Heartless that you had apparently summoned wander around aimlessly in the sand. You then took notice of the trees in the surrounding area, and the sea life within the water. You had done all of this? But, you had failed in summoning your weapon, and you assumed that Zexion was going to punish you for failing this task.

"I… couldn't do it."

"No, no, (Name). Your weapon isn't one that takes a visible form… as odd as it is for me to say this, I believe that you possess the ability to control the Nether.* You are able to destroy and manipulate the rate of destruction of everything in your surrounding area, be it living or deceased. You are the one who willed those trees to rot, and thus they did… I never believed that the ability to control Nether would be one given to a member of our Organization- I simply must tell Vexen about this."

You watched as Zexion formed yet another void portal, and then took notice of the Heartless that were still wandering about in the sand.

"(Name), see if you can control them to your will."

Your (color) eyes stared intently at the smaller Heartless, and you noticed the antennas upon their heads began to twitch slightly.

"Have them attack me. I assure you I am more than capable of defending myself."

You gave a slight nod of your head, and then began to will that the Heartless attack your mentor. No sooner did you do this did all of them rapidly lunge towards him, and true to his word, he felled them with one blow. He stood in silence, and then waved his hand towards himself in a gesture for you to follow him into the portal he had created.

=13=

"Vexen! Vexen!"

The rapid steps of none other than Zexion made their way into Vexen's ears, and he groaned as he stopped typing yet again. How many times was this man planning on interrupting his work today?

"What is it this time, Zexion?"

"It's about (Name). Vexen… she has the ability to control The Final Element."

Vexen's eyes widened, and he nearly stumbled back into his desk. Never did he believe that he would hear such a thing, especially since he had hypothesized that the Final Element was to never be bestowed upon a Nobody. And, of all Nobodies, why would that ability be given to (Name)?

"Zexion, surely you must jest. You're meaning to tell me that she has the power to control the Nether?

"Yes, Vexen. I witnessed her bring healthy trees to nothing more than rot. I witnessed her make fish and crabs devoid of all life, and I watched her bring felled Heartless back from the void and control them, Vexen. Do you understand what this means? She could become powerful enough to amass an army of never-ending Heartless. Should her minions be felled, she can simply re-animate them as many times as her strength would allow! They don't regain the hearts they released upon being slain the first time, but Vexen… a Nobody that can summon and control Heartless is now on our side. She will surely be a great asset to us."

"A Nobody that can summon Pureblood Heartless… I thought that previously impossible. We all have Nobodies that we can summon, but I've never seen a Nobody that is able to summon Heartless to their side. Does Lord Xemnas know about this?"

Zexion shook his head, a quiet sigh passing his lips. He was deep in thought about whether or not to tell Xemnas about her ability.

"I fear that Lord Xemnas might think her power too strong. The Final Element, if controlled properly, could potentially wipe out the Organization if she ever turned her back on us."

"And? You act as though she is a dear friend of yours, Zexion. Remember that she just came about yesterday. If Lord Xemnas deems her ineffective or too strong for our Organization, then let him turn her into a Dusk. We shall surely find other Nobodies to replace her."

Zexion said nothing in reply to the scientist- he simply didn't understand how important this girl now was to the Organization. Or, perhaps he did, but was letting his ego guide his words as he typically did. The Schemer did know one thing though- he had to make sure that this girl never strayed from the intentions of the Organization. If their plans were to succeed, her powers could potentially keep any who opposed at bay.

He would keep her within the Organization by whatever means necessary.

=13=

Author's Note (1): I have a head-canon that there is a science lab within the castle in The World that Never Was. All information on every Organization member is kept here; this falls into place within the KHIIFM story, as you find the data-versions of the members that you can battle in the Garden of Assemblage.

Author's Note (2): Twilight Town is canonically the birthplace of all human-form Nobodies. This is not a head-canon, but is in fact where all human-form Nobodies come into existence.

Author's Note (3): All Organization members have the ability to control a certain element; the Nether is one of them. Allowing each reader to choose an element would make writing this incredibly hard, so I decided it would be best to simply pick one that would be unique and interesting. If you wish to read more about the Nether and the abilities one could potentially have by controlling it, please read here - wiki/Nether_Manipulation