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

*This is the point in the timeline where things will begin to become a bit altered. At this point, Sora has been turned into a Heartless, and Roxas has been born into the world. However, he has not been found by Xemnas yet. This is a fair warning that from this point, the timeline will be altered and changed in order to make this work in a more story-like favor.

=13=

Over the course of the next few months, several other members of the Organization were found outside of the mansion gates in Twilight Town. Two more men, Luxord and Marluxia, and another woman named Larxene were added to the ranks of the Organization, thus bringing the number to thirteen. Within the meetings of the Organization, Xemnas had begun to mention an item known as the "Keyblade," and that only the Keyblade could collect hearts from fallen Heartless to form "Kingdom Hearts." Now that he had a decent number of Nobodies working under his command, Xemnas was very clear on his goal for both himself and those who served him- to form Kingdom Hearts and restore the hearts to the thirteen who served under him.

Now that Xemnas' ultimate goal had finally been revealed, the Nobodies who served him were more than happy (if possible) to oblige with the work that they were assigned- save Demyx, who often acted incredibly lazy and would prefer to lay around the castle rather than do whatever work he had been assigned for the day. On several occasions, after learning of the element you happened to control, he would come to you and ask you to give him any form of disease you could think of- as long as it didn't 'hurt him too much,' as he would say. You would tell him time and time again that bestowing diseases wasn't within your arsenal of Nether control, but he would just whine and wander off to finally take care of his mission for the day.

You had hoped to find a friend in Larxene, seeing as she was the only other female face you had seen in the Organization, but that idea was quickly tossed aside once you realized how sadistic she seemed to act. If Zexion's hypothesis held true, her original self must have been a rather interesting character to say the very least. Luxord, however, took a liking to you and often challenged you to gambling games late at night within the gathering area. Zexion would often oversee these small games, and more often than not, you lost. It was very seldom that Luxord lost, which allowed him to stay true to his title of The Gambler of Fate. If you were ever asked where all your Munny had gone, you would simply say to go and speak to Luxord about the answer to that question.

As for Marluxia, he was a rather elusive character when it came to wishing to speak with him. You often found him tending to several roses that he had within his room, but he didn't seem to speak much. It wasn't like he was rude or anything towards you however, he simply wasn't very talkative with you. The only person he seemed to take an interest talking continuously to was Larxene, which you found rather interesting considering her sadistic and often snarky personality.

Today, your leader was out of the castle. This was a very rare occasion, and as such, you weren't quite sure what to do with yourself. Your leader had left before any missions had been assigned, so you thought that today would be a good day to simply relax and rest. As such, you wandered the halls of the castle in an effort to find Zexion- maybe he would have a good idea as to what you could do since this was seemingly a day off. Upon reaching the door to the Schemer's room, you folded your fingers into the palm of your hand and gently rapped your knuckles upon the door. You didn't get any form of reply from inside, and you knocked again in case he hadn't heard for whatever reason. Upon receiving no reply once again, you slowly opened the door and poked your head inside, and came to find that no one was inside. You hummed quietly to yourself, shutting the door as you tried to think of where your mentor could be. Then, as if you could have thought of anywhere else, you knew exactly where he would be.

You brought your hand in front of you, making a portal within the hallway. Before you could walk into it, however, you felt a hand grab your shoulder and stop you. You hastily turned your attention to whoever was grabbing you, and sighed when you found that it was only Xigbar.

"Hey, kiddo. Where ya off to?"

"I'm… heading out for a bit. I figured since Lord Xemnas isn't around right now, and none of us were given any missions for the day, that I could just head out for a bit."

"I asked where, kiddo."

"I'm just going out, Xigbar. I assure you it's nowhere special."

He stopped his questioning and pestering, giving a small smirk as he let go of your shoulder. You forced a small smile before turning on your heel and heading through the void, making absolutely sure that it closed behind you. The way that Xigbar had begun to question you was rather odd, and you just wanted to get the thoughts off your mind for a while.

You ended up back on the islands, and you looked around for where your mentor might be. Sure enough, you saw him sitting on the edge of the smaller island that was connected via bridge to the main island. You made your way across the shifting sand, opening the door to the old shack and making your way up the stairs once you were inside. Once you were on higher ground, you crossed the wooden bridge to the smaller island, then proceeded to take a seat beside your mentor.

"How did I know you'd be here, Zexion?"

You saw him place something beside him rather quickly, and he cleared his throat before looking over at you. You cocked your eyebrow, your attention turning to whatever he had placed beside him.

"Hey, what was that?"

You reached over his lap, much to his objection, and grabbed the object within your hands. You found that it was a book- the entirety of it was black as ink, and on the cover were three intertwined Nobody symbols. You ran your fingers over the corners of the book that were covered in a smooth metal, and hummed softly upon noticing the wording under the three Nobody symbols.

"Ignes Fatui… what does that mean, Zexion?"

He sighed quietly, gently taking the book from your grasp and looking over it once again.

"It's Latin, (Name). It means 'delusions.' This is my weapon, the Book of Retribution."

"Were you… reading it before I came over here?"

"Yes. My book is very *unique, (Name). Within it are stories from other worlds that change each day. The book re-writes itself, always allowing me to partake in a new story each day, should I so wish."

This answer interested you, and you leaned over against him to get a better look at the words upon the pages. He tensed up slightly at this, but eventually relaxed as he saw you take a deep interest in the words that were neatly written upon the pages of his book.

"I could read it to you, if you'd like me to. That way you don't have to strain yourself so much."

"You act as though I'm a child, Zexion. However, I suppose I wouldn't mind if you read some of it to me."

This was the first time that you ever heard him laugh. Well, it was more of a chuckle, but it was something that you never thought you'd hear from him. You glanced up at him, but he had already averted his gaze from you in an attempt to make it seem as though it hadn't happened. Each time that either of you did such things, it only made the both of you believe that his hypothesis about the emotions that you felt more and more true. By this point, you were nearly certain that he was correct. How else could you explain the laughter that left your lips? Or the excitement, at least that what you believed it to be, whenever you and Zexion were partaking in a mission together? For now, you were choosing to believe that his hypothesis was true… and that your emotions were a genuine echo of what your former self would have been like if she was in this scenario. You heard Zexion clear his throat, and then saw him place his finger near the top of the page to mark where he would begin to read.

*"Once upon a time," said Abraham Setrakian's grandmother, "there was a giant."

=13=

When Zexion finished the words of the story, he closed the book in his hands and sighed softly. Whatever this story was, he was curious as to what would happen next. This wasn't the first time his book had given him a multi-part story, and he knew that it would be continued the next day.

"Well, (Name)? How did you like it?"

He received no response, and upon looking down at you, he immediately saw that you had fallen asleep upon his lap. He was unsure about what to do, but placed his book beside him in the sand and tried his best to stay still. In an effort to make your rest a bit more comfortable, he reached down and moved a few stray strands of hair away from your face. He himself had gotten used to such things since his right eye had been covered for as long as he could remember, but he knew that most people didn't care for it whilst they rested. You shifted slightly in response to this, but didn't wake from the slumber that had you within its grasp.

Zexion, now caught within his own thoughts, had several things running through his mind. Had this girl not come along, he believed that he would have stayed within his shell of self-consciousness- no, he knew that he would have. Becoming her mentor allowed him to express more of himself than he would have ever been able to before, especially since the other members of the Organization had little to no correlation with his thought process like she did. She took interest in his ideas and his hypotheses, which was something that Vexen simply mocked or neglected as though they didn't exist. She was his first real friend. She was one of the first things that he thought about in the mornings when he awoke- what would they be doing on their mission that day? Had she gotten adequate rest?

The Schemer was quickly drawn out of his thoughts when he felt you move upon his lap, and he glanced down to see you raise your arms above your head to stretch yourself out. You yawned, then brought your hand up to your eye and rubbed it slowly in an attempt to wake yourself up.

"I fell asleep, didn't I? I apologize, Zexion… I guess I didn't sleep much last night. We did stay out pretty late on our mission, after all."

"Don't fret, (Name). After all, you're correct when you say we did stay out rather late due to our mission. Should you be in need of more rest, I'd recommend that you return to base and recuperate within your room."

You shook your head, sitting up and running your fingers through the soft sand beneath your body. Several of the members often questioned why you didn't wear your gloves all the time- Vexen was especially adamant that you do, considering that he didn't want one of the Organization's greatest assets falling ill in a time of dire need. You simply didn't care to keep your skin covered. You wanted to feel the world around you- to feel what it would have felt back when you were originally human.

"(Name)… do you mind if I speak to you about something?"

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

Zexion stayed quiet for a moment, flipping through several pages of his book before coming to a halt at the very end- the page was blank, and nothing was written upon it like all the pages prior to it.

*"Xigbar spoke to me about something a while back- back when Marluxia was first recruited. Apparently, Lord Xemnas has been leaving more and more frequently to go to the Chamber of Repose. Xigbar, seeing as how he has a horrendous habit of eavesdropping, overheard him speaking to an entity that apparently does not exist. Who this entity is, I am uncertain. Such information has been rather troublesome lately, and I simply needed to relay the information to someone I could trust."

"Perhaps, much like us, Lord Xemnas needs time to himself, as well. Perhaps he is simply speaking to himself rather than a nonexistent entity as Xigbar seems to think. We cannot begin to make any assumptions, lest they be wrong in the end."

Zexion gave a quiet huff of breath, his blue eyes gazing out over the sea. He trusted his leader in his words and ways, and what he wanted to do for all of them was something that he desperately wanted. He wished for his heart back, so that this constant state of confusion about his small bursts of feeling would end. But, once he regained his heart, what would happen to the memories that he made whilst he was a Nobody? Would they simply vanish into nothingness and never be recovered? The memories of he and (Name) were something that he didn't wish to lose- so what was more important to him?

"Hey, Zexion."

He felt a nudge on his shoulder, which drew him yet again out of his thoughts. His attention was now turned on you, and you allowed yourself to give him a reassuring smile.

"Don't think about these things too much, yeah? You'll drive yourself mad doing that. And trust me, you don't want to end up like Vexen now, do you?"

There is was again- that chuckle that you had heard a while earlier. You liked hearing it, and you would have to make sure that you did what you could to make him do it again sometimes.

"Yes, I suppose that ending up like Vexen would be rather unfortunate. I would much rather be a quiet, introverted intellectual that maintains my sanity than an egotistical, greater-than-thou mad scientist."

That was it. That was what made the two of you laugh for the first time. It was no longer chuckles from Zexion, or giggles from you, this laughter was made in your core- it made its way up your body and out your lips, and you had to lean on Zexion's shoulder for a bit of support. This feeling, yes, feeling, was something that could not be described in words no matter how hard you might have tried. Hearing the Schemer, a normally quiet, secluded, intellectual man who wished for nothing more than his goals complete laugh was something that anyone else in the Organization would have immediately written off as an act of insanity. That, or they would have thought it a poor attempt at a 'joke' and ignored it altogether. There was absolutely no doubt between the two of you now that Zexion had been right about his hypothesis. Nobodies could feel, and they felt it all.

When the two of you finally finished, you moved yourself away from Zexion's shoulder and gave a long sigh. It took you a moment to be able to talk normally again, but it was worth it. The feeling of pure joy and happiness was something that you had longed to feel since you came into existence, and now, months later after joining the Organization, you finally did.

"Laughing suits you, Zexion. Believe it or not, it truly does."

The blue-haired man looked down at you, a small nod being given in reply to your words. Though he didn't wish to believe it himself, the concept of joy was something that he could most definitely get used to. Perhaps not all the time, since he still wished to maintain himself in an orderly manner, but around (Name) he would have no qualms with it.

The man brushed some of his hair away from his right eye, and then grabbed his book from the sand beside him. Rising to his feet, he gripped your hand and brought you up with him, saving you the effort of standing up yourself.

"Let us return to the castle, (Name)."

=13=

When you had gone to your room to rest a while, Zexion decided it would be best if he happened to get a bit of rest as well. After all, there were bound to be more missions to take care of tomorrow, especially now that their full plan was in motion due to the Organization being near complete, if not completed already. The Schemer walked down the dim hallway, his book tucked underneath his arm as he neared his room. Before he had a chance to open the door, however, he was stopped by the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

"Zexion."

Expecting the mocking tone of Vexen, the Schemer was quite relieved to hear the deep voice of Lexaeus instead. He turned to face the broad-shouldered man, and was greeted with a seemingly expressionless face.

"Yes, Lexaeus? Is something amiss?"

"You are playing a dangerous game."

It was very seldom that the large man spoke, but when he did, it typically meant that he was needing his point to get across further than it usually would with just a look he would give. Zexion moved away from Lexaeus's grip on his shoulder, blue eyes meeting with yet another pair of blue.

"I believe I can handle myself, Lexaeus. Besides, there is nothing to worry about here. I don't know what gave you the idea that there was."

The ginger-haired man gave a heavy sigh, his lips curling down a bit more into a slight frown. Zexion, in all honesty, wasn't quite sure what he was talking about when he mentioned a "game." There was nothing going on whatsoever, and his words were more confusing than they were helpful. The Schemer knew, however, that the Nobody was simply attempting to help in his own unique way.

"I appreciate whatever concern you are giving; however, I assure you that all is well, Lexaeus."

With that, Zexion turned and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. The Stalwart stared at the door for a moment, and then turned his gaze to the floor beneath his feet.

"You're changing."

=13=

Author's Note (1): This is another head-canon of mine about Zexion's Lexicon. Since little is known about the written contents within it, I believe it is constantly changing- hence why he is seen reading it so much in 358 ½ Days.

Author's Note (2): This quote comes from the first novel of "The Strain" by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. I'm a big fan of the book series and television series, so I thought why not include a bit of it in here.

Author's Note (3): This conversation is in reference to the secret scene from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. I'd highly recommend looking it up if you've never seen it before. It's a rather long exchange between Xigbar and Zexion about Xemnas and the Chamber of Repose, so it's pretty important.